Alagyaz (; ) is a village and centre of the

Alagyaz Municipality Aragatsotn (, ) is a province ('' marz'') of Armenia. It is located in the western part of the country. The capital and largest city of the province is the town of Ashtarak. The Statistical Committee of Armenia reported its population was 128,94 ...

of the

Aragatsotn Province Aragatsotn (, ) is a administrative divisions of Armenia, province (''Marz (country subdivision), marz'') of Armenia. It is located in the western part of the country. The capital and largest city of the province is the town of Ashtarak. The Sta ...

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

. Most of the population are Yazidi Kurds . The village is located along the

Aparan Aparan ( , colloquially ) is a town in the Aparan Municipality of the Aragatsotn Province of Armenia, about 50 kilometers northwest of the capital Yerevan. As of the 2011 census, the population of the town was 6,451. As per the 2016 official esti ...

Spitak Spitak (), is a town and urban municipal community in the northern Lori Province of Armenia. It is north of the capital, Yerevan, and west of the provincial center, Vanadzor. Spitak was entirely destroyed during the devastating 1988 Armenian e ...

highway.

History

The settlement was founded in the 19th century. Between 1828 and 1829, a few

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...

families moved to the village from

Mush In multiplayer online games, a MUSH (a backronymed variation on Multi-user dungeon, MUD most often expanded as Multi-User Shared Hallucination, though Multi-User Shared Hack, Habitat, and Holodeck are also observed) is a text-based online social m ...

and

Aintab Gaziantep, historically Aintab and still informally called Antep, is a major city in south-central Turkey. It is the capital of the Gaziantep Province, in the westernmost part of Turkey's Southeastern Anatolia Region and partially in the Medit ...

. It was known as ''Mets Jamshlu'' until it was renamed to its present name in 1938. From 1938 to 1949, it served as the center of the Alagyaz region of the

Armenian SSR The Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic (ArSSR), also known as Soviet Armenia, or simply Armenia, was one of the constituent republics of the Soviet Union, located in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Soviet Armenia bordered the Soviet republics ...

. During Soviet times, the community was mostly agricultural engaged in grain cultivation and working at the local Soviet dairy factory. By 1970, the village had a cheese factory, secondary school, hospital, pharmacy,

cultural center A cultural center or cultural centre is an organization, building or complex that promotes culture and arts. Cultural centers can be neighborhood community arts organizations, private facilities, government-sponsored, or activist-run. Africa * ...

, library, veterinary clinic, communication department, and a cinema. In 1937, the first ever state-sponsored Kurdish theatre was founded in the Alagyaz village of Armenia. On March 15, 1972, the village became part of the Aragats district of the Armenian SSR. Alagyaz is known as the cultural centre of

Kurds in Armenia The Kurds in Armenia (; ), also referred to as the Kurds of Rewan (), form a major part of the historically significant Kurdish population in the Post-Soviet states, post-Soviet space, and live mainly in the western parts of Armenia. Kurds a ...

, producing over 20 scientists, artists and 2 academicians.

Notes

External links

* * Populated places in Aragatsotn Province Yazidi villages Kurdish settlements in Armenia Yazidi populated places in Armenia {{Aragatsotn-geo-stub