Independence Square ( ''Ankakhutyan Hraparak'') is a large square at the centre of

Gyumri Gyumri (, ) is an urban municipal community and the List of cities and towns in Armenia, second-largest city in Armenia, serving as the administrative center of Shirak Province in the northwestern part of the country. By the end of the 19th centur ...

city,

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 ...

. It is the second square of the city after the central

Vartanants Square Vartanants Square ( ''Vartanants Hraparak'') or Vardanants Square, is the large central town square in Gyumri, Armenia. It is bordered by Abovyan street from the west, Gai street from the north, Shahumyan street from the east and Vahan Cheraz stre ...

. The square is intersected by the streets of Khrimian Hayrik, Garegin Nzhdeh, Alex Manoogian, Sayat Nova Avenue and Tigranes the Great Avenue. It has a shape of square (125 by 125 meters) and was completed during the 1940s, after

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. The Independence Square of Gyumri was known as the ''Lenin square'' during the

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

years. It was severely damaged during the 1988 earthquake. With the independence of Armenia in 1991, the square was renamed with its current name.Gyumri Independence Square
/ref> The independence square is mainly occupied by a large green park, centred with the statue of the ''Armenian Girl'' raising a cross, commemorating the victims of the

1988 Armenian earthquake The 1988 Armenian earthquake, also known as the Spitak earthquake (), occurred on December 7 at with a surface-wave magnitude of 6.8 and a maximum MSK intensity of X (''Devastating''). The shock occurred in the northern region of Armenia (then ...

Buildings around the square

*The former Gyumri Textile Factory building, occupying the northern side. *Gyumri Courthouse on the northwestern corner. * Gyumri Academy of Fine Arts on the western side. * Gyumri Information Technology Center on the southern side. *Progress University on the eastern side.

Gallery

File:Gyumri statue.jpg, The statue of the ''Armenian Girl'' File:Gyumri center.jpg, The clock tower of the former textile factory File:Gyumru Arvestneri akadenia 01.jpg, The Fine Arts Academy File:Gyumri - Ankakhutyan Square.jpg, ''Progress University''

References

{{coord, 40, 47, 33, N, 43, 50, 49, E, type:landmark, display=title Buildings and structures in Gyumri Squares in Gyumri