Kumayri historic district
The Kumayri historic district, also known as the Kumayri Historical and Cultural Museum-Reserve, is the oldest part of Gyumri with its own unique architecture. It has more than a thousand buildings dating back to the 19th and 20th centuries. The district is one of few places in Armenia, and the world, with authentic urban Armenian architecture. Almost all the structures of the Kumayri district have survived the two major earthquakes in 1926 and 1988 respectively. The historic district of Kumayri occupies the central and western part of modern-day Gyumri.
History
The area was first mentioned as Kumayri in the historic Urartian inscriptions dating back to the 8th century BC. Historians believe that Xenophon passed through Kumayri during his return to the Black Sea, a journey immortalized in his Anabasis.Kumayri was again mentioned in 773 in accounts of the revolt against Arab domination led by Artavazd Mamikonyan that resulted in a revival of Armenian statehood. Later, during and after the reign of Bagratids, Kumayri developed into a well-built modern town that was a center of commerce for the region.
In 1804, the Russian forces controlled over Shirak region at the beginning of the Russo-Persian War of 1804–1813. Kumayri became officially part of the Russian Empire at the Treaty of Gulistan.
During the period of Russian rule, Kumayri became one of the developing cities in the Transcaucasus. In 1829, in the aftermath of the Russo-Turkish War, there was a big influx of Armenian population, as around 3,000 families who had migrated from territories in the Ottoman Empire -in particular from the towns of Kars, Erzurum, and Doğubayazıt- settled in and around Kumayri.
A major Russian fortress was built on the site in 1837. Gyumri was finally formed as a town in 1840 to become the centre of the newly established Alexandropol uezd, experiencing rapid growth during its first decade. In 1849, the Alexandropol Uyezd became part of the Erivan Governorate. The town was an important outpost for the Imperial Russian armed forces in the Transcaucasus where their military barracks were established. The Russians built the Sev Berd fortress at the western edge of the city during the 1830s in response to the Russo-Turkish War of 1828–1829.
Alexandropol had been quickly transformed to become one of the major centres of the Russian troops during the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878. After the establishment of the railway station in 1899, Alexandropol witnessed a significant growth and became the largest city in Eastern Armenia. By the end of the 19th century, Alexandropol was home to 430 shopping stores as well as several workshops and cultural institutions.
The majority of the historic buildings in Kumayri date back to the 19th and 20th centuries. Monuments such the homes of important Armenian cultural figures and wealthy families from the pre-Soviet period, and several churches, including a Russian chapel, still stand.
Monuments
The historic district contains around 1,600 monuments of cultural significance that occupy the streets of Gorky, Abovyan, Rustaveli, and Vardapets.[Dzitoghtsyan Museum of National Architecture]
The famous house of the Dzitoghtsyan family was built in 1872 by four brothers who migrated from the Western Armenian village of Dzitogh, to the city of Alexandropol. It is built with the famous red tuff stone of Shirak.The house-museum, exhibits a collection of the Alexandropol social life characteristics, from the 19th century up to the 1920s. It also features the cultural, architectural and religious aspects of the city.
[Holy Saviour's Church, Gyumri]
Armenian Apostolic Church in the center of Kumayri. It was completed in 1872 and consecrated in 1873. The construction was fulfilled through the donations of the population of Kumayri and the Drampyan family.The design of the church was derived from the architecture of the Cathedral of Ani. However the Holy Saviour Church is much larger than the Cathedral of Ani.
[Hovhannes Shiraz House-Museum]
The building was built in 1886, with red tuff stone of Shirak Province, and was the home of a wealthy merchant named Qeshishyan. During most of the Soviet period, it was used as a storehouse. In July 1983, not wanting to wait until Shiraz's death to honour him, government officials offered Shiraz a home to live in. However, the poet only lived in this house for a year, as he died in March 1984.In order to preserve his legacy, the building later became a house-museum by the resolution of the Government of Armenia.