Yerevan
Yerevan - Capital of Republic of Armenia, an old and at the same time always young city whose roots go back to pre-historic and ancient times. The official establishment of the great city of Yerevan took place under the reigning of the mighty king of Ararat - Argishti the First in the year 782 BC. Thus the establishment of the City-Fortress of Erebuni predates that of the "Eternal" City of Rome by more than two decades.
Yerevan is situated in the beautiful and scenic Araratian
Valley, on the banks of the Hrazdan River. In Yerevan, you will never
need rose-colored glasses, because most of its buildings use a pink shade
of "tuf" stone which is quarried in Armenia. This is the most
prominent feature of Yerevan's otherwise usually utilitarian Soviet architecture
and is unique to Armenia. An appropriate nickname would be the city of
cafe's, for in the summer it is often hard to tell where one cafe ends
and the next one begins. The downtown or "getron" area of the
city is very compact and contains everything you will probably want to
visit. No matter where you stay in this area you will be within easy walking
or metro distance of everything important in the city. The very heart
of the city, and indeed the nation, is Republic Square. It lies in the
very middle of Yerevan, which is home to a third of the republics population
and over 15% of the worlds Armenians.
In 1828 there were seven Armenian Apostolic churches in Yerevan with a
like number of clergy. Four of those churches, two of them tiny, survived
the Soviet period.The oldest surviving church in Yerevan, the Katoghike,
stands nestled in a courtyard on the W side of Abovian Street just above
Sayat Nova Blvd. The Zoravar Church survives concealed behind apartment
fronts in the block bounded by Moscovian, Pushkin, Ghazar Parpetsu, and
Tumanian streets, a hodgepodge of architecture dating from 1693 (funded
by the wealthy Hoja Panos) and rebuilt at various times. The enormous
Grigor Lusavorich National Cathedral is being constructed across from
Kino Russia on Tigran Mets Blvd. It will house a museum documenting the
history of Armenian Christianity, and be completed by 2001.
Several schools are reconstructed in Shirak by the Armenian Educational Foundation.
Click on the reconstructed school 
icon for detailed information.
Matenadaran
Zoravar Church
National Art Gallery