You don’t hear striking statements from the restrained British BBC too often. However, not too long ago, BBC called Armenians the smartest nation on the planet. One of the reasons for this statement was the fact that two of the three latest chess Olympiads were won by Armenians. One of the greatest chess players of …
A unique manuscript written in the first quarter of the 17th century recently complemented the treasury of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, reports the Armenian Shoghakat TV channel. The monthly notebook (church calendar) created by Priest Hovhannes dates back to 1625. Its double silver cover was made by master Shahmir Karapet in 1656. This …
This story known to all the inhabitants of the village of Vardablur and containing remarkable details on the visit of Komitas has been passed from generation to generation. Komitas was accompanied by a student of the Etchmiadzin Seminary and later Professor Avetik Ter-Poghosyan, a native of the village of Vardablur. They knew that the local …
You cannot change the lives of the people without the participation of women. If our people are stagnant in ignorance, then this is partly because women are not playing any role in society. This force, this vital energy wedged into the narrow circle of family life would be lost for nothing. The cause of education …
The ruins of Armenian cathedrals, churches, and temples are still standing in the lost city of Ani. Currently, the city is located in Eastern Turkey, in the territory that has been once called Western Armenia. Located near the modern Russian-Turkish border, the city is designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Adventurer Jeremy Curl visited …
In 1929, one of the churches of Old Yerevan, Gethsemane Chapel, was dismantled. In its place would be built the Yerevan Opera Theater. In 2007, a khachkar (cross-stone) was installed in the building in memory of Gethsemane Chapel that had existed for several centuries. It is thought that from at least the 3rd century, a …
The old Yerevan two-story building located at 46, Nalbandyan St, and built at the beginning of the 20th century could go unnoticed despite the fact that the office of the Russian VTB Bank’s Armenian branch is now located here. However, a noteworthy fact is associated with this building. Outstanding Armenian poet Yeghishe Charents lived and …
When Armenian painter Martiros Saryan was told to paint a portrait of Stalin, he replied that he had a principle to paint from live models only. In 1937, 12 portraits of Saryan were burned in the courtyard of the art gallery. They depicted Armenian statesmen and representatives of the Armenian intelligentsia who were condemned as …
Translated from Armenian, “Hnevank” means “old monastery”. And this is a very appropriate name. The exact date of the construction of this monastery is unknown. According to some sources, one of its churches was restored in the 12th century. However, judging by its architecture, its first church was built around the 7th century. This dilapidated …
For each country, it is important to properly organize postal traffic, and the main role in this is given to postage stamps. So the question arises – how did the development of Armenian postage stamps occur? The first Republic of Armenia was born in 1918 in the most difficult conditions. Armenia was opposing the Turkish …
A presentation of the film “Voskan Yerevantsi” about the history of Armenian book printing took place in London in September 2017. The story of the film is based on the Bishop Voskan Yerevantsi (Voskan of Yerevan), thanks to whom the first Bible in Armenian was published in the printing house of the Armenian Apostolic Church …
In Sasun, especially during celebrations and pilgrimages, girls braided their hair in forty braids and decorated their heads with wreaths woven from evergreen mountain flowers. They dressed up so well that they drove the guys crazy. More than decorations, the brave men of Sasun valued girlish beauty, shyness, and modesty. “The girl, blushing with shame, …
The book of Khachatur Dadayan – a fruit of 6 years of research – has a number of features and layers. In it, for the first time, an attempt was made to consider the complex of Armenian-Azerbaijani relations from the point of view of what the Armenians did for Baku. A goal of the book …
It is well known that one of the indicators of the degree of civilization of a society in a given country is its attitude to the cultural values of other ethnic groups. An example from this point of view can be considered our southern neighbors who are not only anxiously taking care of the monuments …
On March 2, a khachkar (cross-stone) was erected in the UK in the city of Canterbury in memory of the victims of the 1915 Armenian Genocide. The khachkar was installed in the garden of Canterbury Cathedral thanks to the initiative of the British Armenian diaspora. It was consecrated by the head of the diocese of …
Today, the Surb Khach (Holy Cross) Church built in the 10th century located on Akhtamar Island on Van Lake in Turkey continues to be admired by everyone. Over the last decades, the church could have met the fate of many architectural monuments of Western Armenia. However, it by a miracle escaped complete demolition. The general …
The monastery complex Oromosavank or Khoshavank is one of the most outstanding examples of Armenian architecture of the 10th-11th centuries. It is located in the territory of modern Turkey, in the Kars Province, 15 kilometers northeast of the medieval capital of Armenia Ani, on the right bank of the Akhuryan River, in a closed border …
We all passed more than once by the arched building located in the Cascade square, at the intersection of Tamanyan and Isahakyan streets. But only a few know that it used to be, perhaps, one of the most popular taverns in the Armenian capital. Named Temurnots, it was originally run from 1962 to 1980. And …