Aram Street (), is a street at the central

Kentron district Kentron (), is one of the Districts of Yerevan, 12 districts of Yerevan, the capital of Armenia. It comprises the downtown, the commercial centre of the city. As of the 2022 census, the district has a population of 119,841. Kentron is bordered by ...

of the

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 ...

n capital

Yerevan Yerevan ( , , ; ; sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia, as well as one of the world's List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerev ...

, named after

Aram Manukian Aram Manukian (19 March 187929 January 1919) was an Armenian revolutionary, statesman, and a leading member of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun) party. He is widely regarded as the founder of the First Republic of Armenia. ...

; the leader of the Van Resistance of 1915 and one of the founders of the

First Republic of Armenia The First Republic of Armenia, officially known at the time of its existence as the Republic of Armenia, was an independent History of Armenia, Armenian state that existed from May (28th ''de jure'', 30th ''de facto'') 1918 to 2 December 1920 in ...

. It is one of the oldest streets in modern Yerevan. The street runs from the Khanjyan street at the southeast, to Mashtots Avenue at the northwest, along the

Yerevan Vernissage Yerevan Vernissage ( ''Vernisazh'') is a large open-air market in Yerevan, Armenia. The name of the market is the derived from the French word ''vernissage''. The market lies along Aram Street and Buzand Street at a length of , connecting the H ...

market, the

National Gallery of Armenia The National Gallery of Armenia (, ) is the largest art museum in Armenia. Located on Yerevan's Republic Square, Yerevan, Republic Square, the museum has one of the most prominent locations in the Armenian capital. The NGA houses significant colle ...

and Missak Manouchian park.

History

The street was opened in 1837 and named Tsarskaya Street in the honour of Tsar Nicholas I who visited the city during that period. In 1919, after the death of the first interior minister of the

, the street was officially renamed after him. After the sovietization of Armenia, the communists renamed the street after the

bolshevik The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, were a radical Faction (political), faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) which split with the Mensheviks at the 2nd Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, ...

activist

Suren Spandaryan Suren Spandari Spandaryan (; 1882 in Tiflis – 24 September 1916) was an Armenian revolutionary in the Russian Empire, literary critic, publicist and one of the founders of the Bolsheviks, Bolshevik faction of the Russian Social Democratic Labour ...

in 1921. With the independence of Armenia in 1991, the name of Aram Manukian was restored and the street was officially renamed as Aram Street (in Armenian: ''Arami Poghots''). Between 1917 and 1919, Aram Manukian lived in the building located at Aram Street 9. The building which belonged to Fadey Kalantaryan, dates back to 1910 and designed by architect Boris Mehrabyan.

Aram Street was home to many old and traditional buildings of Yerevan. However, after the independence of Armenia, the majority of the historic buildings on the street were either entirely destroyed or transformed into modern residential buildings through the construction of additional floors. Only few structures were preserved, mainly in the portion that extends from the

Abovyan Street Abovyan Street (), is a street at the central Kentron district of the Armenian capital Yerevan. It was known as Astafyan Street between 1868 and 1920. The street runs from the central Republic Square to the statue of prominent Armenian writer ...

to the

Mashtots Avenue Mashtots Avenue ( ''Mashtots'i Poghota''), known as Lenin Avenue until 1990, is an avenue in the central Kentron district of Yerevan, Armenia. The avenue starts with the Victory Bridge at the south and ends up with the Matenadaran museum to th ...

"Old Yerevan" project

In 2005, the

Yerevan City Council The Yerevan City Council () is the lawmaking body of the city of Yerevan, the capital and largest city of Armenia. It has 65 members elected by party-list proportional representation system, headed by the Mayor of Yerevan. The council monitors p ...

proposed a plan to restore the old buildings on Aram Street, within the frames of "Old Yerevan" project. The initial plan had suggested to rebuild the historic buildings on the section located between the Abovyan Street and Mashtots park, at a length of 320 meters. However, the proposed plan was postponed for several years due to lack of financial resources. The budgeted amount for the investment on this project is around US$ 150 million, with a duration of between 3 and 5 years. In April 2013, the project was revived as the reconstruction process of some old buildings was launched. Based on the revised plan, "Old Yerevan" will be implemented in accordance with the master plan of Yerevan. Thus, the rehabilitated territory will recreate an urban environment that features the historical scene of Yerevan, commercially and culturally integrated into the modern life of the city.The President conducted a tour of the capital and familiarized with the process of implementation of the major investment programs
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References

External links

Old images of Aram street
{{Yerevan landmarks Roads in Armenia Streets in Yerevan