Portal:Armenia

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Armenia Portal

Բարի գալուստ Հայաստանի պորտալ!


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 to the north, Azerbaijan to the east, and Iran and the Azerbaijani exclave of Nakhchivan to the south. Yerevan is the capital, largest city and financial center.

The Armenian highlands have been home to the Hayasa-Azzi, Shupria, and Nairi peoples. By at least 600 BC, an archaic form of Proto-Armenian, an Indo-European language, had diffused into the Armenian highlands. The first Armenian state of Urartu was established in 860 BC, and by the 6th century BC it was replaced by the Satrapy of Armenia. The Kingdom of Armenia reached its height under Tigranes the Great in the 1st century BC and in AD 301 became the first state in the world to adopt Christianity as its official religion. Armenia still recognises the Armenian Apostolic Church, the world's oldest national church, as the country's primary religious establishment. The ancient Armenian kingdom was split between the Byzantine and Sasanian Empires around the early 5th century. Under the Bagratuni dynasty, the Bagratid Kingdom of Armenia was restored in the 9th century before falling in 1045. Cilician Armenia, an Armenian principality and later a kingdom, was located on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea between the 11th and 14th centuries.

Between the 16th and 19th centuries, the traditional Armenian homeland composed of Eastern Armenia and Western Armenia came under the rule of the Ottoman and Persian empires, repeatedly ruled by either of the two over the centuries. By the 19th century, Eastern Armenia had been conquered by the Russian Empire while most of Western Armenia remained under Ottoman rule. During World War I up to 1.5 million Armenians were systematically exterminated in the Armenian genocide. Following the Russian Revolution, the First Republic of Armenia declared independence in 1918. By 1920, the state was incorporated into the Soviet Union as the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic. Today's Republic of Armenia became independent in 1991 during the dissolution of the Soviet Union. (Full article...)

Selected article

The Armenian highlands near the Iran–Turkey border with Mount Ararat in the distance

The Armenian highlands (Armenian: Հայկական լեռնաշխարհ, romanized: Haykakan leṙnašxarh; also known as the Eastern Anatolian highlands, Armenian upland, Armenian plateau, or Armenian tableland) comprise the most central and the highest of the three plateaus that together form the northern sector of West Asia. Clockwise starting from the west, the Armenian highlands are bounded by the Anatolian plateau, the Caucasus, the Kura-Aras lowlands, the Iranian Plateau, and Mesopotamia. The highlands are divided into western and eastern regions, defined by the Ararat Valley where Mount Ararat is located. Since the turn of the 20th century, Western Armenia has been relabeled as "Eastern Anatolia" by Ottoman and Turkish authorities. Eastern Armenia is part of Lesser Caucasus, which was historically known by some as the Anti-Caucasus, meaning "opposite of the Caucasus".

During the Iron Age, the region was known by variations of the name Ararat (Urartu, Uruatri, Urashtu). Later, the Highlands were known as Armenia Major, a central region to the history of Armenians, and one of the four geopolitical regions associated with Armenians, the other three being Armenia Minor, Sophene, and Commagene. The highlands are primarily defined by the geographical dispersal of its native inhabitants, the Armenians. Prior to the appearance of nominally Armenian people in historical records, historians have hypothesized that the region must have been home to various ethnic groups who became homogenous when the Armenian language came to prominence. The population of the Armenian highlands has had a high level of regional genetic continuity for over 6,000 years. Recent studies indicate that the Armenian people descend from the indigenous people of the Armenian highlands and form a distinct genetic isolate in the region. The region was also inhabited during Antiquity by minorities such as Assyrians, Georgians, Greeks, Jews, and Iranians. During the Middle Ages, Arabs and particularly Turkmens and Kurds settled in large numbers in the Armenian highlands. (Full article...)

Selected biography

Petrosian in 1962

Tigran Vardani Petrosian (Armenian: Տիգրան Վարդանի Պետրոսյան; Russian: Тигран Вартанович Петросян; 17 June 1929 – 13 August 1984) was a Soviet-Armenian chess grandmaster. The ninth World Chess Champion from 1963 to 1969, he was nicknamed "Iron Tigran" due to his almost-impenetrable defensive playing style, which emphasized safety above all else. Petrosian is often credited with popularizing chess in Armenia.

Petrosian was a candidate for the World Chess Championship on eight occasions (1953, 1956, 1959, 1962, 1971, 1974, 1977 and 1980). He won the World Championship in 1963 (against Mikhail Botvinnik), successfully defended it in 1966 (against Boris Spassky), and lost it to Spassky in 1969. Thus he was the defending World Champion or a World Championship Candidate in ten consecutive three-year cycles. He won the Soviet Championship four times (1959, 1961, 1969, and 1975). (Full article...)

General images

The following are images from various Armenia-related articles on Wikipedia.
  • Rock-cut chamber: tomb of Prosh Khaghbakian (1283). (from Geghard)
  • Cross decoration on the walls of Astvatsatsin church (from Noravank)
  • 17th-century service buildings (foreground) (from Geghard)
  • Column, tomb of Papak Proshyan, 1288. (from Geghard)
  • Tatev Monastery pillar (from Tatev Monastery)
  • Entrance to the Proshyan chapel (1283). (from Geghard)
  • The first rock-cut church, Zakarid period, circa 1240. (from Geghard)
  • Muqarna Vault of the First church in the rock, 13th century. (from Geghard)
  • Broken khachkar to the left of Astvatsatsin church (from Noravank)
  • Ceiling and Muqarna vault of the gavit. (from Geghard)
  • The main church, or "Kathogike" (from Geghard)
  • Cupola on arches. Proshyan chapel (1283). (from Geghard)
  • A detail of the Astvatsatsin church (from Noravank)
  • The hole (from Noravank)
  • Ornament on the ceiling of the Saint Grigor chapel made with the Vordan Karmir (Cochineal Red) pigment (from Noravank)
  • Mausoleum of Prince Prosh Khaghbakian (1283). The tombs are behind the twin arches. The entrance to the Proshyan chapel is to the right. (from Geghard)
  • Panorama of Noravank monastery and Amaghu valley (from Noravank)
  • The museum (from Noravank)
  • Geghard gavit (from Geghard)
  • Boundary agreement between the villages Khut, Shinhar and Halizur (Halidzor) owned by the Tatev Monastery. Persian manuscript, dated 13 November 1400 (from Tatev Monastery)
  • Façade of Surb Astvatsatsin Church (from Noravank)
  • The southern entrance of Surb Karapet church (from Noravank)
  • Arched entrance to the caves adjacent to the monastery. (from Geghard)
  • Window tympanum of the Gavit. Interpretation is unclear: God the Father with the head of John the Baptist, Jesus or Adam in his hand and Jesus on the Cross (from Noravank)
  • The entrance of Astvatsatsin church (from Noravank)
  • Plan of Noravank (from Noravank)
  • Tatev Monastery (from Tatev Monastery)
  • Noravank khachkars (from Noravank)
  • Photo by Alexander Roinashvili c. 1880. (from Tatev Monastery)
  • Surb Astvatsatsin Church of Noravank (from Noravank)
  • Surb Karapet (St. John the Baptist) Church (from Noravank)
  • Emblem of the Proshyan family. (from Geghard)
  • The "Chapel of the Proshyans" in Rock-This is the rock-cut church past the zhamatun. It was dedicated by Prince Prosh in 1283. (from Geghard)
  • The façade of Surb Karapet Church with a depiction of God the Father (upper relief) (from Noravank)
  • Grave of Elikum III Orbelian, son of Prince Tarsaich Orbelian (from Noravank)
  • Engraved crosses on the cave church wall in the Geghard Monastery. (from Geghard)
  • Column from the gavit (from Geghard)
  • Noravank horseman hunting a lion, late 13th to early 14th century (from Noravank)
  • Plan of Saints Paul and Peter Church (from Tatev Monastery)
  • The monastery c. 1920 (from Tatev Monastery)
  • The Upper Zhamatun (1288), tomb of Papak Proshyan and his wife Ruzukana (from Geghard)
  • View of the monastery and surroundings, 2025 (from Tatev Monastery)
  • An illustration of the monastery from 1881. (from Tatev Monastery)
  • Khachkars inset in rock outcropping (from Geghard)
  • Approach to the monastery (from Noravank)
  • Bas-relief (from Noravank)
  • Aerial view (from Noravank)
  • St. Gregory the Illuminator's Church (from Tatev Monastery)
  • Swinging Column in Tatev (from Tatev Monastery)
  • The Church of Saints Paul and Peter at sunset (from Tatev Monastery)
  • Noravank (from Noravank)
  • Holy Mother of God Church (from Tatev Monastery)
  • The monastery in the early 20th century (from Noravank)
  • The back of the Astvatsatsin church (from Noravank)
  • View of the interior (from Noravank)
  • Cupola on arches. Proshyan chapel (1283). (from Geghard)
  • Tatev Monastery (from Tatev Monastery)
  • Carved tombstones of Smbat and Elikum III Orbelian, inside the chapel of Surb Grigor (from Noravank)
  • Geghard in the snow (from Geghard)
  • Swinging Column in 1839 (from Tatev Monastery)
  • Plan of Geghard, with identification of the main structures. (from Geghard)

Selected picture

  • Armenian National Academic Theatre of Opera and Ballet
  • Noravank Monastery

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