Yerevan

Yerevan is the capital and largest city of <a href="/facts/Armenia/t3GQx9sU">Armenia</a>, as well as one of the world's <a href="/facts/List_of_oldest_continuously_inhabited_cities/74JX06Jp">oldest continuously inhabited cities</a>. Situated along the <a href="/facts/Hrazdan_River/HzgYE74a">Hrazdan River</a>, Yerevan is the administrative, cultural, and industrial center of the country, as its <a href="/facts/Primate_city/aRpJTCcu">primate city</a>. It has been the <a href="/facts/Historical_capitals_of_Armenia/6d50TQ3w">capital</a> since 1918, the <a href="/facts/Historical_capitals_of_Armenia/6d50TQ3w">fourteenth in the history of Armenia</a> and the seventh located in or around the <a href="/facts/Ararat_Plain/vdHLAlfl">Ararat Plain</a>. The city also serves as the seat of the <a href="/facts/Araratian_Pontifical_Diocese/5J5vcpS7">Araratian Pontifical Diocese</a>, which is the largest diocese of the <a href="/facts/Armenian_Apostolic_Church/xo7TYjfU">Armenian Apostolic Church</a> and one of the oldest dioceses in the world.
The history of Yerevan dates back to the 8th century BC, with the founding of the fortress of <a href="/facts/Erebuni_Fortress/mACozBmu">Erebuni</a> in 782 BC by King <a href="/facts/Argishti_I_of_Urartu/cB7Spuxf">Argishti I</a> of <a href="/facts/Urartu/xzkKwIJ2">Urartu</a> at the western extreme of the Ararat Plain. Erebuni was "designed as a great administrative and religious centre, a fully royal capital." By the late <a href="/facts/Kingdom_of_Armenia_(antiquity)/7L4XUMzG">ancient Armenian Kingdom</a>, new capital cities were established and Yerevan declined in importance. The city was mostly depopulated by the <a href="/facts/Great_Surgun/RnYyak9e">Great Surgun</a> of 1603–05, when the <a href="/facts/Safavid_Iran/WPHAaz8e">Safavid Empire</a> forcibly deported hundreds of thousands of Armenians to Iran. In 1679, the city was mostly destroyed by an <a href="/facts/1679_Armenia_earthquake/fkMkhsm2">earthquake</a>, and then rebuilt on a smaller scale. In 1828, Yerevan became part of the <a href="/facts/Russian_Empire/hg1g5SpV">Russian Empire</a>, which led to the repatriation of Armenians whose ancestors had been forcibly relocated in the 17th century. After <a href="/facts/World_War_I/vITTUanQ">World War I</a>, Yerevan became the capital of the <a href="/facts/First_Republic_of_Armenia/yaHPteNX">First Republic of Armenia</a> as thousands of <a href="/facts/Armenian_genocide_survivors/9eB7t77l">survivors</a> of the <a href="/facts/Armenian_genocide/n4qY58hs">Armenian genocide</a> in the <a href="/facts/Ottoman_Empire/6QvfTRsg">Ottoman Empire</a> arrived in the area. The city expanded rapidly during the 20th century while <a href="/facts/Armenian_Soviet_Socialist_Republic/8LE8ancp">Armenia</a> was a part of the <a href="/facts/Soviet_Union/m7wWsPto">Soviet Union</a>. In a few decades, Yerevan was transformed from a provincial town within the <a href="/facts/Russian_Empire/hg1g5SpV">Russian Empire</a> to Armenia's principal cultural, artistic, and industrial center, as well as becoming the seat of national government.
With the growth of the <a href="/facts/Economy_of_Armenia/2RN6hKy3">Armenian economy</a>, Yerevan has undergone major transformation. Much construction has been done throughout the city since the early 2000s, and retail outlets such as restaurants, shops, and street cafés, which were rare during Soviet times, have multiplied. As of 2011, the population of Yerevan was 1,060,138, just over 35% of Armenia's total population. By 2022, the population further increased to 1,086,677. Yerevan was named the 2012 <a href="/facts/World_Book_Capital/k0aeyeBr">World Book Capital</a> by <a href="/facts/UNESCO/QSbkRv3o">UNESCO</a>. Yerevan is an associate member of <a href="/facts/Eurocities/sHpF0yDH">Eurocities</a>.
Of the notable landmarks of Yerevan, <a href="/facts/Erebuni_Fortress/mACozBmu">Erebuni Fortress</a> is considered to be the birthplace of the city, the <a href="/facts/Katoghike_Tsiranavor_Church_of_Avan/1Uj4Ymny">Katoghike Tsiranavor</a> church is the oldest surviving church of Yerevan, and <a href="/facts/Saint_Gregory_the_Illuminator_Cathedral%2c_Yerevan/80Wco1hv">Saint Gregory Cathedral</a> is the largest Armenian cathedral in the world. <a href="/facts/Tsitsernakaberd/laBoJbqd">Tsitsernakaberd</a> is the official memorial to the victims of the Armenian genocide. The city is home to several opera houses, theatres, museums, libraries, and other cultural institutions. <a href="/facts/Yerevan_Opera_Theatre/yCWjjRYy">Yerevan Opera Theatre</a> is the main spectacle hall of the Armenian capital, the <a href="/facts/National_Gallery_of_Armenia/aL3Q8FJn">National Gallery of Armenia</a> is the largest art museum in Armenia and shares a building with the <a href="/facts/History_Museum_of_Armenia/1YsauJcS">History Museum of Armenia</a>, and the <a href="/facts/Matenadaran/qrRJUw89">Matenadaran</a> contains one of the largest depositories of ancient books and manuscripts in the world.

Yerevan open-in-new

Yerevan