Yerevan ( , , ; ; sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia, as well as one of the world's oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerevan is the administrative, cultural, and industrial centre of the country, as its primate city. It has been the capital since 1918, the fourteenth in the history of Armenia and the seventh located in or around the Ararat Plain. The city also serves as the seat of the Araratian Pontifical Diocese, which is the largest diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church 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 Erebuni in 782 BC by King Argishti I of Urartu 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 ancient Armenian Kingdom, new capital cities were established and Yerevan declined in importance. The city was mostly depopulated by the Great Surgun of 1603–05, when the Safavid Empire forcibly deported hundreds of thousands of Armenians to Iran. In 1679, the city was mostly destroyed by an earthquake, and then rebuilt on a smaller scale. In 1828, Yerevan became part of the Russian Empire, which led to the repatriation of Armenians whose ancestors had been forcibly relocated in the 17th century. After World War I, Yerevan became the capital of the First Republic of Armenia as thousands of survivors of the Armenian genocide in the Ottoman Empire arrived in the area. The city expanded rapidly during the 20th century while Armenia was a part of the Soviet Union. In a few decades, Yerevan was transformed from a provincial town within the Russian Empire to Armenia's principal cultural, artistic, and industrial centre, as well as becoming the seat of national government.
With the growth of the Armenian economy, 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. , 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 is an associate member of Eurocities.
Of the notable landmarks of Yerevan, Erebuni Fortress is considered to be the birthplace of the city, the Katoghike Tsiranavor church is the oldest surviving church of Yerevan, and Saint Gregory Cathedral is the largest Armenian cathedral in the world. Tsitsernakaberd 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. Yerevan Opera Theatre is the main spectacle hall of the Armenian capital, the National Gallery of Armenia is the largest art museum in Armenia and shares a building with the History Museum of Armenia, and the Matenadaran contains one of the largest depositories of ancient books and manuscripts in the world.
Etymology
thumb|The "birth certificate" of Yerevan at the [[Erebuni Fortress—a cuneiform inscription left by King Argishti I of Urartu on a basalt stone slab about the foundation of the city in 782 BCE]]
thumb|"YEREVAN" (ԵՐԵՒԱՆ) in an inscription from [[Kecharis Monastery|Kecharis, dating back to 1223]]The exact origin of the name is unknown. One theory regarding the origin of Yerevan's name is the city was named after the Armenian king, Yervand (Orontes) IV, the last ruler of Armenia from the Orontid dynasty, and founder of the city of Yervandashat. However, it is likely that the city's name is derived from the Urartian military fortress of Erebuni, which was founded on the territory of modern-day Yerevan in 782 BC by Argishti I. "Erebuni" may derive from the Urartian word for "to take" or "to capture," meaning that the fortress's name could be interpreted as "capture," "conquest," or "victory." As elements of the Urartian language blended with that of the Armenian one, the name eventually evolved into Yerevan (Erebuni = Erevani = Erevan = Yerevan). Scholar Margarit Israelyan notes these changes when comparing inscriptions found on two cuneiform tablets at Erebuni:
Early Christian Armenian chroniclers connected the origin of the city's name to the legend of Noah's Ark. After the ark had landed on Mount Ararat and the flood waters had receded, Noah, while looking in the direction of Yerevan, is said to have exclaimed "Yerevats!" ("it appeared!" in Armenian), from which originated the name Yerevan.
In the late medieval and early modern periods, when Yerevan was under Turkic and later Persian rule, the city was known in Persian as (). The city was officially known as Erivan () under Russian rule during the 19th and early 20th centuries. The city was renamed back to Yerevan (Ереван) in 1936. Up until the mid-1970s the city's name was spelled Erevan more often than Yerevan in English sources.
Symbols
thumb|[[Mount Ararat, the national symbol of Armenia, dominates the Yerevan skyline.]]
The principal symbol of Yerevan is Mount Ararat, which is visible from any area in the capital. The seal of the city is a crowned lion on a pedestal with a shield that has a depiction of Mount Ararat on the upper part and half of an Armenian eternity sign on the bottom part. The emblem is a rectangular shield with a blue border.
On 27 September 2004, Yerevan adopted an anthem, "Erebuni-Yerevan", using lyrics written by Paruyr Sevak and set to music composed by Edgar Hovhannisyan. It was selected in a competition for a new anthem and new flag that would best represent the city. The chosen flag has a white background with the city's seal in the middle, surrounded by twelve small red triangles that symbolise the twelve historic capitals of Armenia. The flag includes the three colours of the Armenian National flag. The lion is portrayed on the orange background with blue edging.
History
Pre-history and pre-classical era
thumb|Foundations of [[Shengavit Settlement|Shengavit historical site (site settled 3200 BC cal to 2500 BC cal) ]]
The territory of Yerevan has been inhabited since approximately the 2nd half of the 4th millennium BC. The southern part of the city currently known as Shengavit has been populated since at least 3200 BC, during the period of Kura–Araxes culture of the early Bronze Age. The first excavations at the Shengavit historical site was conducted between 1936 and 1938 under the guidance of archaeologist Yevgeny Bayburdyan. After two decades, archaeologist Sandro Sardarian resumed the excavations starting from 1958 until 1983. The 3rd phase of the excavations started in 2000, under the guidance of archaeologist Hakob Simonyan. In 2009, Simonyan was joined by Mitchell S. Rothman from the Widener University of Pennsylvania. Together they conducted three series of excavations in 2009, 2010, and 2012 respectively. During the process, a full stratigraphic column to bedrock was reached, showing there to be 8 or 9 distinct stratigraphic levels. These levels cover a time between 3200 BC and 2500 BC. Evidences of later use of the site, possibly until 2200 BC, were also found. The excavation process revealed a series of large round buildings with square adjoining rooms and minor round buildings. A series of ritual installations was discovered in 2010 and 2012.
Erebuni
thumb|Painting showing the founding of Yerevan by [[Argishti I of Urartu|Argishti I in 782 BC (Erebuni Museum)]]
thumb|[[Erebuni Fortress, founded by King Argishti I in 782 BC]]
The ancient kingdom of Urartu was formed in the 9th century BC by King Arame in the basin of Lake Van of the Armenian Highland, including the territory of modern-day Yerevan. Archaeological evidence, such as a cuneiform inscription, indicates that the Urartian military fortress of Erebuni was founded in 782 BC by the orders of King Argishti I at the site of modern-day Yerevan, to serve as a fort and citadel guarding against attacks from the north Caucasus. The cuneiform inscription found at Erebuni Fortress reads:
During the height of the Urartian power, irrigation canals and artificial reservoirs were built in Erebuni and its surrounding territories.
thumb|Foundations of [[Teishebaini building commenced in mid-7th century BC]]
In the mid-7th century BC, the city of Teishebaini was built by Rusa II of Urartu, around west of Erebuni Fortress. It was fortified on a hill -currently known as Karmir Blur within Shengavit District of Yerevan- to protect the eastern borders of Urartu from the barbaric Cimmerians and Scythians. During excavations, the remains of a governors palace that contained a hundred and twenty rooms spreading across more than was found, along with a citadel dedicated to the Urartian god Teisheba. The construction of the city of Teishebaini, as well as the palace and the citadel was completed by the end of the 7th century BC, during the reign of Rusa III. However, Teishebaini was destroyed by an alliance of Medes and the Scythians in 585 BC.
Median and Achaemenid rules
thumb|upright|Achaemenid [[rhyton from Erebuni]]
In 590 BC, following the fall of the Kingdom of Urartu at the hands of the Iranian Medes, Erebuni along with the Armenian Highlands became part of the Median Empire.
However, in 550 BC, the Median Empire was conquered by Cyrus the Great, and Erebuni became part of the Achaemenid Empire. Between 522 BC and 331 BC, Erebuni was one of the main centres of the Satrapy of Armenia, a region controlled by the Orontid dynasty as one of the satrapies of the Achaemenid Empire. The Satrapy of Armenia was divided into two parts: the northern part and the southern part, with the cities of Erebuni (Yerevan) and Tushpa (Van) as their centres, respectively.
Coins issued in 478 BC, along with many other items found in the Erebuni Fortress, reveal the importance of Erebuni as a major centre for trade under Achaemenid rule.
Ancient Kingdom of Armenia
After Alexander the Great's victory over the Achaemenid Empire, the Orontid rulers of the Armenian satrapy achieved independence as a result of the Battle of Gaugamela in 331 BC, founding the Kingdom of Armenia. With the establishment of new cities such as Armavir, Zarehavan, Bagaran and Yervandashat, the importance of Erebuni gradually declined.
With the rise of the Artaxiad dynasty of Armenia who seized power in 189 BC, the Kingdom of Armenia greatly expanded to include major territories of Asia Minor, Atropatene, Iberia, Phoenicia and Syria. The Artaxiads considered Erebuni and Tushpa as cities of Persian heritage. Consequently, new cities and commercial centres were built by Kings Artaxias I, Artavasdes I and Tigranes the Great. Thus, with the dominance of cities such as Artaxata and Tigranocerta, Erebuni significantly lost its importance as a central city.
thumb|The ruins of the 4th-century Holy Mother of God Chapel in Avan, north of Yerevan
Under the rule of the Arsacid dynasty of Armenia (54–428 AD), many other cities around Erebuni including Vagharshapat and Dvin flourished. Consequently, Erebuni was completely neutralised, losing its role as an economic and strategic centre of Armenia. During the period of the Arsacid kings, Erebuni was only recorded in a Manichaean text of the 3rd century, where it is mentioned that one of the disciples of the prophet Mani founded a Manichaean community near the Christian community in Erebuni.
According to the medieval Armenian geography Ashkharhatsuyts, Erebuni was part of the canton () of Kotayk (not to be confused with the current Kotayk Province) of the province of Ayrarat, within Armenia Major.
Armenia became a Christian nation in the early 4th century AD, during the reign of the Arsacid king Tiridates III.
Sasanian and Roman periods
thumb|[[Katoghike Tsiranavor Church of Avan, 6th century]]
Following the partition of Armenia by the Byzantine and Sasanian empires in 387 and in 428, Erebuni and the entire territory of Eastern Armenia came under the rule of Sasanian Persia. The Armenian territories formed the province of Persian Armenia within the Sasanian Empire.
Due to the diminished role of Erebuni, as well as the absence of proper historical data, much of the city's history under the Sasanian rule is unknown.
In 587, during the reign of emperor Maurice, Yerevan and much of Armenia came under Roman administration after the Romans defeated the Sassanid Persian Empire at the battle of the Blarathon. Soon after, Katoghike Tsiranavor Church in Avan was built between 595 and 602. Despite being partly damaged during the 1679 earthquake), it is the oldest surviving church within modern Yerevan city limits.
The province of Persian Armenia (also known as Persarmenia) lasted until 646, when the province was dissolved with the Muslim conquest of Persia.
Arab Islamic invasion
thumb|The 7th-century church of the Holy Mother of God, demolished in 1936
In 658 AD, at the height of the Arab Islamic invasions, Erebuni-Yerevan was conquered during the Muslim conquest of Persia, as it was part of Persian-ruled Armenia. The city became part of the Emirate of Armenia under the Umayyad Caliphate. The city of Dvin was the centre of the newly created emirate. Starting from this period, as a result of the developing trade activities with the Arabs, the Armenian territories had gained strategic importance as a crossroads for the Arab caravan routes passing between Europe and India through the Arab-controlled Ararat Plain of Armenia. Most probably, "Erebuni" has become known as "Yerevan" since at least the 7th century AD.
Bagratid Armenia
After two centuries of Islamic rule over Armenia, the Bagratid prince Ashot I of Armenia led the revolution against the Abbasid Caliphate. Ashot I liberated Yerevan in 850, and was recognised as the Prince of Princes of Armenia by the Abbasid Caliph al-Musta'in in 862. Ashot was later crowned King of Armenia through the consent of Caliph al-Mu'tamid in 885. During the rule of the Bagratuni dynasty of Armenia between 885 and 1045, Yerevan was relatively a secure part of the Kingdom before falling to the Byzantines.
However, Yerevan did not have any strategic role during the reign of the Bagratids, who developed many other cities of Ayrarat, such as Shirakavan, Dvin, and Ani.
Seljuk period, Zakarid Armenia and Mongol rule
thumb|The remains of Surp Hovhannes Chapel, dating back to the 12–13th centuries
After a brief Byzantine rule over Armenia between 1045 and 1064, the invading Seljuks—led by Tughril and later by his successor Alp Arslan—ruled over the entire region, including Yerevan. However, with the establishment of the Zakarid Principality of Armenia in 1201 under the Georgian protectorate, the Armenian territories of Yerevan and Lori had significantly grown. After the Mongols captured Ani in 1236, Armenia turned into a Mongol protectorate as part of the Ilkhanate, and the Zakarids became vassals to the Mongols. After the fall of the Ilkhanate in the mid-14th century, the Zakarid princes ruled over Lori, Shirak and the Ararat Plain until 1360 when they fell to the invading Turkic tribes.
Aq Qoyunlu and Kara Koyunlu tribes
thumb|upright|The [[Mausoleum of Kara Koyunlu emirs in Argavand, near Yerevan]]
During the last quarter of the 14th century, the Aq Qoyunlu Sunni Oghuz Turkic tribe took over Armenia, including Yerevan. In 1400, Timur invaded Armenia and Georgia, and captured more than 60,000 of the survived local people as slaves. Many districts including Yerevan were depopulated.
In 1410, Armenia fell under the control of the Kara Koyunlu Shia Oghuz Turkic tribe. According to the Armenian historian Thomas of Metsoph, although the Kara Koyunlu levied heavy taxes against the Armenians, the early years of their rule were relatively peaceful and some reconstruction of towns took place. The Kara Koyunlus made Yerevan the centre of the newly formed Chukhur Saad administrative territory. The territory was named after a Turkic leader known as Emir Saad.
However, this peaceful period was shattered with the rise of Qara Iskander between 1420 and 1436, who reportedly made Armenia a "desert" and subjected it to "devastation and plunder, to slaughter, and captivity". The wars of Iskander and his eventual defeat against the Timurids, invited further destruction in Armenia, as many more Armenians were taken captive and sold into slavery and the land was subjected to outright pillaging, forcing many of them to leave the region.
Following the fall of the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia in 1375, the seat of the Armenian Church was transferred from Sis back to Vagharshapat near Yerevan in 1441. Thus, Yerevan became the main economic, cultural and administrative centre in Armenia.
Iranian rule
In 1501–02, most of the Eastern Armenian territories including Yerevan were swiftly conquered by the emerging Safavid dynasty of Iran led by Shah Ismail I. Soon after in 1502, Yerevan became the centre of the Erivan Province, a new administrative territory of Iran formed by the Safavids. For the following 3 centuries, it remained, with brief intermissions, under the Iranian rule. Due to its strategic significance, Yerevan was initially often fought over, and passed back and forth, between the dominion of the rivalling Iranian and Ottoman Empire, until it permanently became controlled by the Safavids. In 1555, Iran had secured its legitimate possession over Yerevan with the Ottomans through the Treaty of Amasya.
In 1582–1583, the Ottomans led by Serdar Ferhad Pasha took brief control over Yerevan. Ferhad Pasha managed to build the Erivan Fortress on the ruins of one thousand-years old ancient Armenian fortress, on the shores of Hrazdan river. However, Ottoman control ended in 1604 when the Persians regained Yerevan as a result of first Ottoman-Safavid War.
Shah Abbas I of Persia who ruled between 1588 and 1629, ordered the deportation of hundreds of thousands of Armenians including citizens from Yerevan to mainland Persia. As a consequence, Yerevan significantly lost its Armenian population who had declined to 20%, while Muslims including Persians, Turks, Kurds and Tatars gained dominance with around 80% of the city's population. Muslims were either sedentary, semi-sedentary, or nomadic. Armenians mainly occupied the Kond neighbourhood of Yerevan and the rural suburbs around the city. However, the Armenians dominated over various professions and trade in the area and were of great economic significance to the Persian administration.
During the second Ottoman-Safavid War, Ottoman troops under the command of Sultan Murad IV conquered the city on 8 August 1635. Returning in triumph to Constantinople, he opened the "Yerevan Kiosk" (Revan Köşkü) in Topkapı Palace in 1636. However, Iranian troops commanded by Shah Safi retook Yerevan on 1 April 1636. As a result of the Treaty of Zuhab in 1639, the Iranians reconfirmed their control over Eastern Armenia, including Yerevan. On 7 June 1679, a devastating earthquake razed the city to the ground.
In 1724, the Erivan Fortress was besieged by the Ottoman army. After a period of resistance, the fortress fell to the Turks. As a result of the Ottoman invasion, the Erivan Province of the Safavids was dissolved.
Following a brief period of Ottoman rule over Eastern Armenia between 1724 and 1736, and as a result of the fall of the Safavid dynasty in 1736, Yerevan along with the adjacent territories became part of the newly formed administrative territory of Erivan Khanate under the Afsharid dynasty of Iran, which encompassed an area of . The Afsharids controlled Eastern Armenia from the mid-1730s until the 1790s. Following the fall of the Afsharids, the Qajar dynasty of Iran took control of Eastern Armenia until 1828, when the region was conquered by the Russian Empire after their victory over the Qajars that resulted in the Treaty of Turkmenchay of 1828.
Russian rule
During the second Russo-Persian War of the 19th century, the Russo-Persian War of 1826–1828, Yerevan was captured by Russian troops under general Ivan Paskevich on 1 October 1827. It was formally ceded by the Iranians in 1828, following the Treaty of Turkmenchay. After 3 centuries of Iranian occupation, Yereven along with the rest of Eastern Armenia designated as the "Armenian Oblast", became part of the Russian Empire, a period that would last until the collapse of the Empire in 1917.
Although not mentioned specifically by name, article XV of the Turkmenchay treaty was intended solely for the repatriation of those Armenians whose ancestors had been forcibly relocated to Iran in the early 17th century during the Safavid period. The Russians sponsored the resettlement process of the Armenian population from Persia and Turkey and spread announcements in Armenian villages. Due to the resettlement, the percentage of the Armenian population of Yerevan increased from 28% to 53.8%. The resettlement was intended to create Russian power bridgehead in the Middle East. In 1829, Armenian repatriates from Persia were resettled in the city and a new quarter was built.
Yerevan served as the seat of the newly formed Armenian Oblast between 1828 and 1840. By the time of Nicholas I's visit in 1837, Yerevan had become an uezd ("county"). In 1840, the Armenian Oblast was dissolved and its territory incorporated into a new larger province; the Georgia-Imeretia Governorate. In 1850 the territory of the former oblast was reorganised into the Erivan Governorate, covering an area of . Yerevan served as the centre of the newly established governorate until 1917.
At that period, Yerevan was a small town with narrow roads and alleys, including the central quarter of Shahar, the Ghantar commercial centre, and the residential neighbourhoods of Kond, Dzoragyugh, Nork and Shentagh. During the 1840s and the 1850s, many schools were opened in the city. However, the first major plan of Yerevan was adopted in 1856, during which, Saint Hripsime and Saint Gayane women's colleges were founded and the English Park was opened. In 1863, the Astafyan Street was redeveloped and opened. In 1874, Zacharia Gevorkian opened Yerevan's first printing house, while the first theatre opened its doors in 1879.
On 1 October 1879, Yerevan was granted the status of a city through a decree issued by Alexander II of Russia. In 1881, The Yerevan Teachers' Seminary and the Yerevan Brewery were opened, followed by the Tairyan's wine and brandy factory in 1887. Other factories for alcoholic beverages and mineral water were opened during the 1890s. The monumental church of Saint Gregory the Illuminator was opened in 1900. Electricity and telephone lines were introduced to the city in 1907 and 1913 respectively. When British traveller H. F. B. Lynch visited Yerevan in 1893–1894, he considered it an Oriental city. However, this started to change in the first decade of the 20th century, in the penultimate decade of Imperial Russian rule, when the city grew and altered dramatically. In 1902, a railway line linked Yerevan with Alexandropol, Tiflis and Julfa. In the same year, Yerevan's first public library was opened. In 1905, the grandnephew of Napoleon I; prince Louis Joseph Jérôme Napoléon (1864–1932) was appointed as governor of Yerevan province. In 1913, for the first time in the city, a telephone line with eighty subscribers became operational.
Brief independence
At the beginning of the 20th century, Yerevan was a small city with a population of 30,000. In 1917, the Russian Empire ended with the October Revolution. In the aftermath, Armenian, Georgian and Muslim leaders of Transcaucasia united to form the Transcaucasian Federation and proclaimed Transcaucasia's secession.
The Federation, however, was short-lived. After gaining control over Alexandropol, the Turkish army was advancing towards the south and east to eliminate the centre of Armenian resistance based in Yerevan. On 21 May 1918, the Turks started their campaign moving towards Yerevan via Sardarabad. Catholicos Gevorg V ordered that church bells peal for 6 days as Armenians from all walks of life – peasants, poets, blacksmiths, and even the clergymen – rallied to form organised military units. Civilians, including children, aided in the effort as well, as "Carts drawn by oxen, water buffalo, and cows jammed the roads bringing food, provisions, ammunition, and volunteers from the vicinity" of Yerevan.
By the end of May 1918, Armenians were able to defeat the Turkish army in the battles of Sardarabad, Abaran and Karakilisa. Thus, on 28 May 1918, the Dashnak leader Aram Manukian declared the independence of Armenia. Subsequently, Yerevan became the capital and the centre of the newly founded First Republic of Armenia, although the members of the Armenian National Council were yet to stay in Tiflis until their arrival in Yerevan to form the government in the summer of the same year. Armenia became a parliamentary republic with four administrative divisions. The capital Yerevan was part of the Araratian Province. At the time, Yerevan received more than 75,000 refugees from Western Armenia, who escaped the massacres perpetrated by the Ottoman Turks during the Armenian genocide.
Soviet era
thumb|right|[[Mother Armenia erected in 1967, replacing the monumental statue of Joseph Stalin]]
thumb|Monument to [[Alexander Tamanian at the Yerevan Cascade]]
The 11th Red Army entered Armenia on 29 November 1920, beginning the end of the First Republic. On 2 December 1920, Yerevan became the capital of the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic, one of the constituent republics of the emerging Soviet Union and initially part of the Transcaucasian SFSR with Soviet Georgia and Soviet Azerbaijan. The Soviet government in Yerevan was briefly overturned by the former leaders of the First Republic in the February Uprising of 1921. However, Soviet authority was restored with the defeat of the rebels in early April.
Within the USSR, Yerevan saw significant development during Vladimir Lenin's New Economic Policy (NEP). The city became the first in the Soviet Union for which a general plan was developed. The "General Plan of Yerevan" was devised by the architect Alexander Tamanian and approved by Soviet authorities in 1924. Tamanian's plan was initially designed for a population of 150,000. However, as the Armenian capital grew rapidly into a modern industrial metropolis, Tamanian began developing plans for a Greater Yerevan of 500,000 residents in 1934. Many of the districts around central Yerevan were named after former Armenian communities that were destroyed by the Ottoman Turks during the Armenian genocide. The areas of Arabkir, Nor Kilikia, and Nor Zeytun, for example, were named after Arabkir, Cilicia, and Zeitun, respectively.
Tamanian incorporated national traditions into contemporary urban construction, bringing together neoclassicism with the organic tuff stone of Armenia. His design presented a radial-circular arrangement that overlaid the existing city and incorporated much of its existing street plan. As a result, many historic buildings were demolished, including churches, mosques, the Erivan Fortress, baths, bazaars and caravanserais. Tamanian's successor, Mark Grigorian, noted that Tamanian originally included a monument to Lenin in his plans. However, according to Aram Piruzyan, this was not realised until after Tamanian's death, when Anastas Mikoyan urged the Soviet Armenian leadership to "actively pursue the matter." The monument, designed by Sergey Merkurov, was inaugurated at Lenin Square (today Republic Square) on 24 November 1940.
As a major industrial centre, Yerevan contributed significantly to the Soviet war effort during the Great Patriotic War of World War II. After the war, following the death of Joseph Stalin, Mikoyan flew to Yerevan and gave a speech on 11 March 1954, where he called for the rehabilitation of Yeghishe Charents, marking the start of the Khrushchev Thaw in Armenia. Behind the scenes, the statesman advised Armenian officials on several major projects in the city, such as the Hrazdan Stadium. As part of de-Stalinisation, the massive statue of Stalin that towered over Yerevan was removed from its pedestal by troops in 1962 and replaced in 1967 with that of Mother Armenia.
On 24 April 1965, thousands of Yerevantsis demonstrated on the 50th anniversary of the Armenian genocide. Two years later, in 1967, the memorial honouring the genocide victims was erected at Tsitsernakaberd hill above the Hrazdan gorge. Under the leadership of Armenian First Secretary Karen Demirchyan, Yerevan witnessed the realisation of additional large-scale projects, such as the Yerevan Metro, the Karen Demirchyan Complex, and Zvartnots International Airport. In 1968, the Armenian capital commemorated its 2,750th anniversary.
Yerevan played a major role in the rise of the Karabakh movement. Mikhail Gorbachev's reforms of glasnost and perestroika created the conditions for open discussion on the rights of the Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians, as well as other issues such as the legacies of Stalinism, ecological concerns, and eventually independence. By the beginning of 1988, nearly one million Armenians from several regions of the republic engaged in demonstrations in support of the Karabakh movement, centred on Yerevan's Theater Square (today Freedom Square).
Modern independence
Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Yerevan became the capital of the independent Republic of Armenia on 21 September 1991. The monument to Lenin was removed from Republic Square even before independence, on 13 April 1991, although mayor Hambardzum Galstyan argued in favour of a more nuanced and tolerant position. An estimated of 200,000 people gathered in the Freedom Square to protest the election results. After a series of riot and violent protests around the Parliament building on 25 September, the government sent tanks and troops to Yerevan to enforce the ban on rallies and demonstrations on the following day. Prime Minister Vazgen Sargsyan and Minister of National Security Serzh Sargsyan announced on the Public Television of Armenia that their respective agencies have prevented an attempted coup d'état.
In February 2008, unrest in the capital between the authorities and opposition demonstrators led by ex-President Levon Ter-Petrosyan took place after the 2008 Armenian presidential election. The events resulted in 10 deaths and a subsequent 20-day state of emergency declared by President Robert Kocharyan.
In July 2016, a group of armed men calling themselves the Daredevils of Sassoun ( Sasna Tsrrer) stormed a police station in Erebuni District of Yerevan, taking several hostages, demanding the release of opposition leader Jirair Sefilian and the resignation of President Serzh Sargsyan. 3 policeman were killed as a result of the attack. Many anti-government protestors held rallies in solidarity with the gunmen. However, after 2 weeks of negotiations, the crisis ended and the gunmen surrendered.
Geography
Topography and cityscape
Yerevan has an average height of , with a minimum of and a maximum of above sea level in its southwestern and northeastern sections, respectively. It is among the fifty highest cities in the world with over 1 million inhabitants.
Yerevan is located on the banks of the Hrazdan River, northeast of the Ararat Plain, in the central-western part of the country. The upper part of the city is surrounded with mountains on three sides while it descends to the banks of the river Hrazdan at the south. The Hrazdan divides Yerevan into two parts through a picturesque canyon.
The city is situated at the heart of the Armenian Highland. Historically, Yerevan was located in the Kotayk canton ( Kotayk gavar, not to be confused with the current Kotayk Province) of the Ayrarat province of historic Armenia Major.
According to the current administrative division of Armenia, Yerevan is not part of any marz ("province") and has special administrative status as the country's capital. It is bordered by Kotayk Province to the north and the east, Ararat Province to the south and the south-west, Armavir Province to the west and Aragatsotn Province to the north-west.
The Erebuni State Reserve, formed in 1981, is located around 8 km southeast of the city centre within the Erebuni District of the city. At a height between 1300 and 1450 metres above sea level, the reserve occupies an area of 120 hectares, mainly consisting of semi-deserted mountain-steppes.
Climate
thumb|Winter view of Yerevan
Yerevan features a continental influenced steppe climate (Köppen climate classification: BSk or "cold semi-arid climate", Trewartha climate classification BSao), with long, hot, dry summers and short, but cold and snowy winters. This is attributed to Yerevan being on a plain surrounded by mountains and to its distance from the sea and its moderating effects. The summers are usually very hot with the temperature in August reaching up to , and winters generally carry snowfall and freezing temperatures with January often being as cold as and lower. The amount of precipitation is small, amounting annually to about . Yerevan experiences an average of 2,700 sunshine hours per year.