A vibrant energy emanates from Gyumri’s historic centre, and it is that lively atmosphere that helped us fall in love with this city. Seeing its collection of wonderful black tuff heritage buildings energized us even more. Gyumri is not a common stop for most tourists to Armenia, so realizing that these streets were designed for locals rather than tourists, made us take to it even more. There’s a lot to see in this city, and we think you will love visiting the sites in Gyumri as much as we did.
A little of Gyumri’s History
Before we explore the many things to see in Gyumri, let’s first understand its history. The city went by many names during its long existence. In the Iron Age, the Urartu Kingdom named it Kumayri, which over the centuries evolved into Gyumri. In the 1800s, the Russians renamed the city Alexandropol. Almost one hundred years later, it was a part of the Soviet Union, and its name changed yet again. The Soviets called it Leninakan. After the fall of the Soviet Union, the name was restored to Gyumri.
Its location close to the Turkish border meant that Gyumri, or Alexandropol, was situated on strategic land for the Russians. Not only did they build a fortress, but they also filled their new city with lovely stone buildings. Unfortunately, after they left, the Soviets took over and added their typical bland apartments. In 1988, a 6.8 magnitude earthquake flattened the city, killing between 25,000 and 50,000 citizens. The epicentre was only 50 km away, and eighty to ninety percent of Gyumri’s buildings collapsed or were severely damaged. Most of those were the Soviet-built high-rises, while the single-story Russian-built ones were mostly left unscathed. For us, the lack of those Soviet buildings added to the city’s likability.
Today, Gyumri has been rebuilt and restored, and you wouldn’t know of the tragedy that struck over 35 years ago.
Now let’s go see the sites in Gyumri.
Old Gyumri
Even though it is the second largest city in Armenia, Gyumri’s population is only around 118,000. Maybe it is the small size of the city that gives its old town a youthful energy. At its core, Abovyan and Rizhkov Streets are pedestrian-only, making it even more pleasant to stroll through the centre.
The historic district is called Kumayri, after the city’s first name, and once we set foot in this area, Gyumri quickly became our favourite city in Armenia.
The black and orange tuff heritage buildings that line many of the streets give the city a unique identity. Seeking to find as many as we could, we had a great time wandering up and down the roads as we explored this wonderful historic centre.
Aslamazyan Sisters House Museum
Gyumri is well known in Armenia for its rich arts and culture scene, with many writers and painters hailing from the city. Several of these artists’ former family homes have been converted into small museums and galleries. We visited the Aslamazyan Sisters House Museum. The talented painters, Mariam and Eranuhi Aslamazyan, are beloved in the country for their depictions of everyday Armenian life, and especially for their portrayals of women. A gallery of their work is on display in their former family home, located on Abovyan Pedestrian Street.
Entry fee– 1,000AMD (€2.25); Opening Hours – 11am-6pm, closed Mondays.
In addition to these museums, several statues dedicated to Gyumri artists are on display throughout the city.
Vartanants Square
The central point in Gyumri is the large, open Vartanants Square. Flanked by two churches at either end and City Hall on the side, it’s a bustling spot. The square was named for St. Vardan, who was martyred in a 5th century battle against the Persians that secured Armenians’ right to practice Christianity. A statue of him and other military heroes is prominently placed in the square. Tamanian, the architect who planned much of Yerevan, was the original designer of the public space.
Vartanants Square is popular at night when families come to enjoy the fountains, and kids can zip around on toy cars.
St. Amenaprkich Apostolic Church
At one end of the square is the distinctive St. Amenaprkich Apostolic Church. Its design was based on the important Ani Cathedral. In the Middle Ages, Ani was the capital of the Bagratid Kingdom, and the cathedral was the head of the Armenian Apostolic Church. This is the same dynasty that built Sanahin, Haghpat, Sevanavank and Haghartsin Monasteries that we also visited during our time in Armenia. You can click on the links above to read our posts about those historical monasteries.
The border between Turkey and Armenia was redrawn in the 1920s, putting Ani Cathedral in Turkey. Since then, it hasn’t been maintained, and apparently, it is in ruins.
Another notable detail from this church’s history is that it was designed by the esteemed Armenian architect Trdat. He is credited with working on other famous churches, including Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, the Debed Canyon monasteries Sanahin and Haghpat, as well as the small Marmashen Monastery, near Gyumri.
In addition to having the same layout as Ani Cathedral, another similarity is the blind arches and colonettes that decorate its exterior. What makes the building unique from the iconic Ani is the black and orange tuff accents. They make this 19th century church stand out from any other Armenian Church that we’ve seen.
Other distinguishing features are its umbrella roofs. The original bell tower roof lies on the ground in the garden behind the church. It toppled over in the 1988 earthquake. Beside is a statue commemorating the earthquake’s victims.
The umbrella roof is not common in Armenia, but we saw it in the other monasteries near Mt. Aragats. You can read about Hovannhavank Monastery’s umbrella roof here, and the one in Tatev, here.
Khachkar Park
The church is on one end of a long park where you can find a collection of khachkars. At the other end of the Khachkar Park is a monument commemorating 60 years since the Soviets changed the city’s name to Leninakan in 1924. Since the name was changed back to Gyumri, it seems odd that this monument still stands.
Yot Verk Church
On the opposite side of Vartanants Square is the 14th century Yot Verk Church. Over the years, buildings, trees and the busy street have been slowly encroaching on it, making it difficult to see the entire building.
The church was almost completely demolished in the earthquake and has since been rebuilt. As a reminder of the devastating earthquake, one of its umbrella roofs sits on the ground in front. Even with this restorative work, the black tuff on the church’s exterior gives it an authentic look. Its interior, however, is quite modern, which is too bad.
Black Fortress
Gyumri’s location near the Turkish border gave it the perfect spot for the Russians to establish a military base during the Russo-Turkish War. This included a garrison and fortress on a hill above the town. Using black tuff to build the outer walls, the dark appearance of the 19th century round fortress gave it the name Black Fortress (Sev Berd). Today, it is used as a theatre and concert venue.
Its 2 km from downtown, so is easy to reach by foot. You can also take a taxi or drive.
Mother Armenia
Standing tall on the same hill as the Black Fortress, Mother Armenia is a slightly smaller version of the one in Yerevan. She was purposely positioned with her back toward Turkey because of the long-standing problems with the country, including the Armenian Genocide.
The best part of climbing all those stairs to the base of the statue was the view of Mt. Aragats. Luckily for us, we visited on a clear day. We had already seen Mt. Aragats from Stone Lake on the other side of the mountains, but from Gyumri it is easier to see its disctinctive twin peaks.
Charles Aznavour Square
The French singer Charles Aznavour’s parents are Armenian giving him strong ties to the country. After the devastating earthquake in Gyumri, he founded a charity to help rebuild the city. A monument dedicated to the crooner is set in a busy intersection in the city.
Soviet Monuments
As we mentioned earlier, many of the Soviet buildings in Gyumri collapsed as a result of the earthquake. Don’t worry, though, for those who enjoy this unusual art, you can still find a few of their monuments and buildings around the city.
Getting to Gyumri
It is easy to reach Gyumri from Yerevan by marshrutka. They leave from Yerevan’s Southern Bus Station every hour. Another option is to take the train. They depart from Yerevan Central Railway Station three times a day. To travel between Gyumri and Vanadzor or smaller centres, you can take a marshrutka from Gyumri Central Bus Station.
If you plan to travel between Armenia and Georgia, minibuses run between Gyumri and Akhaltsikhe in Georgia. While in Akhalstikhe, don’t forget to visit Rabat Castle and Vardzia.
Gyumri is located in the middle left of the map below. It is an interactive map, so you can zoom-in, or click on a marker.
Where to eat and stay in Gyumri
As the second largest city in the country, there are many hotels to choose from for all budgets. Try to stay within walking distance of Vartanants Square. As well as hotels, Gyumri has a large selection of local restaurants. Many of these are located along Rijkov Pedestrian and its neighbouring streets.
Spring to fall are the best seasons to visit. At an elevation of 1,577m (5,180ft), the climate is cooler than hot Yerevan, but we were warned that it gets very cold in the winter.
The citizens of Gyumri seem to love coffee. We saw dozens of street cafes and vending machines in the city’s downtown.
A local delicacy is Ponchik. These jam-filled doughnuts reminded us of Ponczki, from Poland. The most delicious ones we found in the city were at the restaurant named for them, Ponchik Monchik. They also have excellent meals at the restaurant.
Travelling throughout Armenia and Georgia, we saw many public drinking fountains. We didn’t use them because, as well as being used by people, we often saw street dogs drinking from them. Finally, in Gyumri, we were able to get a clear picture to help you decide if you want to drink from them or not.
This article is now featured on GPSmyCity. To download this article for offline reading or create a self-guided walking tour to visit the attractions highlighted in this article, go to Walking Tours and Articles in Gyumri.
Click on the link to read our Travel Tips For Armenia.
To read more of our adventures in Armenia, click here.
Coming Next – Day Trips From Gyumri – Harichavank and Marmashen Monasteries
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