| A country | Armenia |
| Marz | Ararat |
| National composition | Armenians |
| Former names | Camarlu (until 1920) Camarlu (until 1945) |
| Mayor | Gagik Muradyan |
| Square | 10 km² |
| Confessional composition | Christians |
| Vehicle code | 25 |
| Coordinates | Coordinates: 39°56′00″ N. w. 44°34′00″ E. d. / 39.933333° n. w. 44.566667° E. d. (G) (O) (I)39°56′00″ n. w. 44°34′00″ E. d. / 39.933333° n. w. 44.566667° E. d. (G) (O) (I) |
| Timezone | UTC+4 |
| Population | 25,400 people (2010) |
| Based | 176 BC e. |
| Telephone code | +374 (235) |
| City with | 1962 |
| Postal codes | 0701-0706 |
Artashat (Armenian, other Greek - “Artaxata”, lat. Neronia) is a city in Armenia, the administrative center of the Ararat region. The fourth capital of Great Armenia. It is located 28-30 km southeast of Yerevan.
Population
The population of Artashat (Gamarlu) in 1897 was 833 people, in 1926 - 2505, in 1939 - 4148, in 1959 - 7277, in 1974 - 14905, in 1976 - 16774 people, according to the 1989 census it was about 32,000 people, in 2001 - 22,600, according to estimates at the beginning of 2008, it is 20,900 people.
Climate
The climate is sharply continental. The average temperature in July-August is 20-26 °C, in January 6 °C, the highest air temperature is about 42 °C, the lowest is 32 °C. Average annual precipitation is 200-235 mm.
Geography and transport
Artashat is located southeast of Yerevan on the Ararat Plain on the left bank of the Azat River. The city is surrounded by orchards and vineyards.
The distance to the border with Turkey is about 4 km. The area of the city is about 10 km, the length from south to north is 5.5 km, from east to west 3 km. The Yerevan-Eraskh) and Yerevan-Yeghegnadzor-Kapan railway lines pass through the city. There are 10 highways leaving Artashat leading to the surrounding villages. Limestone deposits are located 3 km southeast of Artashat.
Twin Cities
Economy
The city has a wine, cognac and canning factories. In Soviet times, light and food industry enterprises, machine-building, ceramic factories and others also operated in Artashat; there is currently no data on their activities.
Artashat and its surroundings are one of the largest agricultural regions in Armenia in terms of production volume. The irrigation network is highly developed here, using the waters of the Artashat Canal and the Azat River. The basis of agriculture is viticulture, fruit growing, vegetable growing and dairy farming.
Story
Background and foundation
A settlement on the territory of ancient Artashat existed back in the times of Urartu.
In the period 225-190 BC. e. Armenia was conquered by the Persian Empire. The largest cities of Armenia at that time were: Armavir, Arshamashat, Arkatiakert (Arsamosata), Kamakh, Ervandashat, Ervandakert.
In 189 BC. e. The independence of Greater Armenia from the Seleucids was proclaimed, its first king was Artashes I, who founded the Artashesid dynasty (although he considered himself the successor of the Ervandids).
King Artashes founded a city in the Ararat Valley, calling it after himself. The name Artashat is explained as “the joy of Artashes.” The founding date of ancient Artashat (the Hellenes called it Artaxitos) varies from 190 to 170 BC. e. According to the main version, this is 176 BC. e.. The city became the capital and was such for a long time, excluding the short period when Tigranakert became the capital (from 77 to 69 BC). After the defeat of Tigran II in the battle with Lucullus near Tigranakert, the capital was returned to Artashat. The Romans considered Artashat to be the Armenian Carthage, and its founder was considered
Located approximately 30 km southeast of, on the Ararat Plain on the left bank of the Azat River, 5 km from historical Artashat, one of the ancient capitals of Great Armenia. Population – 25,400 people (2010).
The name Artashat is explained as “the joy of Artashes” (Artashes is the Armenian king who founded the city).
Modern Artashat is nothing interesting architecturally; most of the buildings in the city are 3-5 storeys (built during the USSR).
The city is surrounded by orchards and vineyards.
Story
A settlement on the territory of ancient Artashat existed back in the times of Urartu.
Urartu is an ancient state in southwestern Asia, located on the territory of the Armenian Highlands (modern Armenia, eastern Turkey and northwestern Iran). The existence of Urartu as a union of tribes has been documented since the 13th century, and as a state - since the 8th century BC. e. Urartu ceased to exist in the 6th century BC. e.
King Artashes in 176 BC. era founded a city in the Ararat Valley, calling it after himself. The city became the capital and remained so for a long time, except for a short period when Tigranakert became the capital (from 77 to 69 BC). The Romans considered Artashat to be the Armenian Carthage, and Hannibal was considered its founder.
Artashat stood in a more convenient place than the former capital (Armavir) - at the crossroads of trade routes on the hills of Vostan Hayots county, which allowed it to become a rapidly flourishing city. The citadel and the central quarters of the city were located on nine hills, now called Khor Virap.
Khor Virap Monastery
Khor Virap- a monastery of the Armenian Apostolic Church, located on the hill of the same name 8 km south of Artashat, near the border with Turkey, at the foot of Mount Ararat, surrounded by pastures and vineyards of the Ararat Valley.
Khor-Virap Hill is located on the site of the ancient capital of Armenia Artashat, built (c. 180 BC) by King Artashes I, founder of the Artashesid dynasty.
The monastery is very well located; it is from here that one of the most wonderful views of the biblical Mount Ararat opens, where, according to legend, Noah ended up on the ark after the Flood.
The building of the Khor-Virap monastery is located above the underground prison in which the Armenian king Trdat III kept St. Gregory the Illuminator before he was converted to Christianity (in 301).
Saint Gregory subsequently became the king's religious mentor, and they carried out missionary activities in the country. In 301, Armenia was the first country in the world to adopt Christianity as a state religion.
The entrance to the underground prison, which has survived to this day, is located in the chapel of St. Gregory, built in 1661.
On the territory of the Khor Virap monastery there is the Church of Our Lady.
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Story
Background and foundation
A settlement on the territory of ancient Artashat existed back in the times of Urartu. In the period 225-190 BC. e. Armenia was conquered by the Persian Empire. The largest cities in Armenia at that time were: Armavir, Arsamosata, Arkatiakert, Kamakh, Yervandashat, Yervandakert. In 189 BC. e. independence from Achaemenid Persia was restored, Artashes I became the king of independent Armenia, who founded the Artashesid dynasty (although he considered himself the successor of the Ervandids).
Artashat stood in a more convenient place than the former capital (Armavir) - at the crossroads of trade routes on the hills of Gavar (district) Vostan, which allowed it to become a rapidly flourishing city. Artashat was located at the foot of Mount Ararat on the left bank of the Araks River near the mouth of the Metsamor River (later Metsamor changed its course, its mouth moved northwest from Artashat). The citadel and the central quarters of the city were located on nine hills, now called Khor Virap.
Ancient historians about Artashat
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They say that the Carthaginian Hannibal, after Antiochus finally lost the war with the Romans, went over to the court of Artax the Armenian, to whom he gave a lot of useful advice and instructions. By the way, he noticed an area that was extremely well located and beautiful, but lay in desolation, and, having made preliminary outlines for the future city, he called Artax, showed him this area and convinced him to build it up. The king was pleased and asked Hannibal to take charge of the construction himself. A large and very beautiful city arose, to which the king gave his name and proclaimed it the capital of Armenia.
Plutarch here had in mind the victory of the Romans over the Seleucid king Antiochus. Not only Plutarch mentioned the city of Artashat. Thus, Strabo wrote:
“Artaxata, near the plain of Araxene, is a well-appointed city and the capital of the country. It is located on a ledge similar to a peninsula, and in front of its walls the river runs all around, with the exception of the space on the isthmus, which is fenced with a ditch and a palisade.”
He also believed that Hannibal took a direct part in the construction of Artashat. Today, Armenian historians believe that this opinion was based only on the comparative greatness of Artashat and its similarity to Carthage.
They say that under Artashes there was not a single piece of uncultivated land in Armenia, neither in the mountains nor in the valleys. Such was the prosperity of our land.
Artashat city: population and territory
One of the outstanding researchers of Artashat was Zh. D. Khachatryan, who was the head of an archaeological expedition that carried out research in the 1970s. He also owns the book “Artashat, Ancient Necropolises”. According to him, the territory of Artashat was 400 hectares, the length of the fortification walls (fortifications) was 10 thousand meters, and the population was 150 thousand people during the period of maximum prosperity.
During the 1st century BC. e. - I century AD e. The population of Armenia fluctuated between 3.5-5 million people. Based on this, the capital could have a population of 150 thousand people.
Military, economic and political history of the city of Artashat
Artashat was the capital and unifying center of the country for about 500 years. Immediately after its construction, it acquired enormous economic importance and became one of the most important transit centers of international trade (including the Great Silk Road). As a result of this, Armenian merchants began to import from China: raw silk (cocoons or raw materials removed from them) and silk fabrics, and export copper, lead, gold-embroidered fabrics, glassware and vessels from Alexandria and Mesopotamia.
According to Movses Khorenatsi, part of the population of Yervandashat, the former capital of Armenia, was transferred to Artashat. Here, therefore, synoicism took place - the formation of the population of a newly founded city by transferring to it part of the population of old cities, the usual way of settling new cities in the Hellenistic world. In Armenia, however, this method was insufficient due to the small urban population. The resettlement of foreigners was also used here - both under Artashes I and, especially, under Tigran II.
Like all cities of ancient history, Artashat was repeatedly destroyed. Presumably, this first happened at the turn of the 2nd-1st centuries BC. e., when the Parthians invaded Armenia and took away “seventy valleys” from it, taking the prince of Armenia (the future Tigran II) as a hostage.
Subsequently, Tigran II made extensive conquests and moved the capital. Artashat remained in the north, the new capital, Antioch, was located outside of Greater Armenia. There was a need to create a capital in such a place that it would be located in one of the regions of Armenia and at the same time could serve as the center of the state. In 77 BC. e. On the banks of one of the northern tributaries of the upper Tigris, in the Armenian region of Akhdznik, the city of Tigranakert was founded.
Armenia and Rome
In 69 BC. e, when the Roman legions plundered and destroyed Tigranakert, the city of Artashat was also threatened with a similar fate, but on the way to Artashat, the troops of Lucullus were defeated by Tigran II. Some time later, Tigran was defeated by Pompey, but the Roman commander entered the Artashat land in 66 BC. e. not for the purpose of capturing it, but for negotiations. Tigran was given an ultimatum, according to which he had to abandon all the countries he had conquered; in return, the Romans left Armenia within its borders, as they were before the conquests, to which Tigran II agreed. In the 50s BC. BC, at the beginning of the reign of Tigranes' son, Artavadza II, the Syrian consul Marcus Licinius Crassus was planning to conquer the east as far as Bactria. According to the agreement between Tigran II and Pompey, Artavadz was supposed to provide assistance to Crassus with troops. Artavadz, aware of the consequences of a possible victory of Rome for Armenia, entered into an agreement with the Parthian king Orodes II, securing it with the marriage of his sister with the Parthian prince. By that time, the Roman army had suffered a crushing defeat in the Battle of the Mesopotamian city of Carrhae. 20 thousand Roman soldiers died, including Crassus himself. Celebrations continued in Artashat when the severed head of Crassus was brought here. Plutarch describes this and also quotes a fragment of the play:
Freshly cut ivy - Happy prey from our hunt - We carry it from the mountains to the palace.
Artavazd died in 34 BC. e., becoming a victim of treacherous capture by Mark Antony. The capital of Armenia, like the whole country, was robbed. Temples were especially damaged: the Romans cut into pieces and carried away the golden statue from the temple of the goddess Anahit. A year later, Artavazd’s son, Artashes II (33-20 BC) proclaimed himself king and defended the independence of the country.
As for Artaxata, having set fire to us, it was destroyed to the ground and razed to the ground, for due to the length of the city fortifications we could not hold it behind us without a strong garrison, and the small number of our army did not allow us to allocate such a garrison and, together with so continue the war; to leave it safe and sound without any protection would mean that we were unable to derive either benefit or glory from taking possession of it.
Subsequently, after the Christianization of Trdat and the adoption of Christianity as the official religion in Armenia, Gregory, together with the Armenian regular army, which Trdat entrusted to him, entered Artashat in order to destroy the temples of the supreme goddess of the Armenian pantheon Anahit and the god of books, sciences, art, trade, interpreter of dreams Tire . It is known that the temple of Anahit was located in Artashat itself, and the temple of Tyr was in the village of Erazmuin. There a battle took place between the pagan Armenians and the army of Gregory - as a result, the defeated pagans were forced to flee north to the Caucasus:
“Woe to us, woe to us, woe to us, for Jesus, the son of Mary, the daughter of man, drove us out of all places. And from here, too, we are forced to flee because of this crucified and dead man. Where should we go now? For his glory filled the earth. Let's go to the inhabitants of the Caucasus Mountains, to the north. Maybe we will get the opportunity to live there, and with their help we will fulfill our desire. For he, not giving us rest and depriving us of air, expelled us from the habitats of man.”
It is difficult to say what the destroyed Anahit Temple looked like. It is known what the various temples of Artemis (who was identified with Anahit) looked like and what the only Armenian pagan temple that has survived to this day looks like - Garni.
IV century
Already in the third century, the balance of power in the region changed: in 226-227, the Parthian kingdom, allied to the Armenians, fell under the onslaught of the Persian Sassanids, who became stronger and began to pursue an aggressive policy. In the 360s, Armenia waged a fierce struggle against Persia. The Persians invaded Armenia, took and destroyed Tigranakert, and then, crossing the Aratsani River and moving along the Euphrates, occupied Ani-Kamakh. But in a decisive battle on the Ararat Plain, the Armenian troops, led by Vasak Mamikonyan, completely defeated the enemy. A turning point came in the war, and all attempts by the Persians to advance deeper into the country were repulsed. However, the feuds between the king and the nakharars, which had subsided for a while, flared up with renewed vigor. Due to the difficult situation within the country, Arshak was forced to seek peace. In 367, Shapur invited the Armenian king and Vasak Mamikonian to Ctesiphon, supposedly to conclude a peace treaty. Here both were treacherously captured. Vasak was executed, and Arshak II was imprisoned.
The Armenian kingdom found itself in an extremely difficult situation: Arshak had a son, Pap, but he was still very small, and Queen Parandzem did not enjoy sufficient authority, and anarchy ensued in the country. Taking advantage of this, the Persians destroyed to the ground all the major Armenian cities: Artashat, Vagharshapat, Yervandashat, Nakhchavan, Zarishat, Van and Tigranakert, killed all the adult men in them, and drove the children and women to Iran. Almost all city residents were resettled, Jews were resettled first, but many Armenians were also resettled:
“After this, they came to the large city of Artashat, took it, destroyed the walls, took away the treasures stored there, and took all the inhabitants of the city captive. From the city of Artashat, nine thousand families of Jews were taken into captivity, who were brought into captivity from the Palestinian country by King Tigran Arshakuni, and forty thousand families of Armenians, who were taken (in captivity) from the city of Artashat. Of the city buildings, wooden ones were set on fire and burned, stone ones were torn down, and the wall was torn down; All the buildings of the city were destroyed to the ground, no stone was left unturned, the city, deprived of all its inhabitants, was turned into a deserted desert. ... And they took away the entire multitude of captives and settled partly in Asorestan and partly in the country of Khuzhastan.”
By 368, practically the last bastion remaining in Armenia was the Artagers fortress, where Queen Parandzem and Prince Pap took refuge. The pope soon managed to escape to the Romans, and the queen, with the remaining faithful nakharars and an 11,000-strong garrison, withstood the Persian siege for more than a year, despite severe hunger and disease. In 369, the besiegers still managed to take Artagers and take possession of all the royal treasures. Parandzem, along with other prisoners, was taken to Iran. To desecrate her, Shah Shapur ordered the construction of a special house on the square of his capital, in which anyone could have intercourse with the deposed queen. Thus she was tortured to death. And in conquered Armenia, the destruction of churches and persecution of Christians began.
But at a time when the Armenian kingdom seemed to be completely crushed, the Pope arrived with a large Roman army. Scattered detachments of patriots began to unite around him, and soon the fierce war resumed. After suffering several defeats, the Persians retreated. In 369, together with Musheg Mamikonyan (son of Vasak, executed by the Persians), the king entered Artashat. In 371, Shapur again attacked Armenia. The decisive battle took place at the foot of Mount Npat on the Dziravskaya Plain. The Armenian army, supported by a large Roman detachment sent by Emperor Valens, fought with great courage and was victorious. Shapur was forced to recognize the Pope as the king of Armenia. Despite his young age, he proved himself to be an extraordinary statesman. Throughout his reign, he managed to maintain peace with Iran and thereby give the country, albeit a short, but much needed respite.
The independent and independent policy of the Pope (especially his frequent relations with the Shah) did not please the Romans. In 374, the Roman commander Terence invited Papa to his feast. Here, right at the table, the Armenian king was hacked to death by Roman legionnaires.
Geography and transport
Artashat is located southeast of Yerevan on the Ararat Plain on the left bank of the Azat River. The city is surrounded by orchards and vineyards.
The distance to the border with Turkey is about 4 km. The area of the city is about 10 km², the length from south to north is 5.5 km, from east to west 3 km. The Yerevan-Nakhichevan and Yerevan-Yeghegnadzor-Kapan railway lines pass through the city. There are 10 highways leaving Artashat leading to the surrounding villages. Limestone deposits are located 3 km southeast of Artashat.
Economy
The city has a wine, cognac and canning factories. In Soviet times, light and food industry enterprises, machine-building, ceramic factories and others also operated in Artashat; there is currently no data on their activities.
Artashat and its surroundings are one of the largest agricultural regions in Armenia in terms of production volume. The irrigation network is highly developed here, using the waters of the Artashat Canal and the Azat River. The basis of agriculture is viticulture, fruit growing, vegetable growing and dairy farming.
Architecture
Architecture of ancient Artashat
All Khorvirap hills were surrounded by fortress walls. Each hill had its own walls, but they were not separate fortifications, but were connected to each other, forming a single fortification system. Between the hills, double parallel lines of walls were erected, forming narrow passages, which, when connected, formed a very extensive and powerful defensive system. This is probably why Tacitus speaks of the need for a large and strong garrison to strengthen the city. Traces of the fortress walls are visible on all the hills, although in some places they have not been preserved, have weathered and collapsed.
During excavations of one of the fortress walls, fragments of karas, clay lamps and other types of ceramics belonging to the Kingdom of Ararat (Urartu) were discovered; this was all known to archaeologists from finds from Erebuni and Teishebaini, Argishtinkhili. On the first hill, under a stone-paved floor of the 2nd century BC. e. An Urartian seal with heavily erased images of priests or gods was found.
The city itself was located around the fortress walls. Houses of traditional local appearance, built of reddish ragged stone, as well as white stone monumental buildings, decorated with columns and covered with tiled roofs, presented a bright and colorful picture under the sun. The interiors of the buildings were decorated with architectural decoration and wall paintings. A unified layout, a skillful combination of blocks, streets, squares and buildings with the relief of hills and plains, the presence of public amenities (
Here is a map of Artashat with streets → Ararat region, Armenia. We study a detailed map of the city of Artashat with house numbers and streets. Real-time search, coordinates
More details about Artashat streets on the map
A detailed map of the city of Artashat with street names can show all the routes and roads, where they are and how to get to Yerevan and Ozanyan streets. Located near.
To view the territory of the entire region in detail, it is enough to change the scale of the online diagram +/-. On the page there is an interactive diagram of the city of Artashat with an address search and routes of the microdistrict. Move its center to find Shiraz and Mayskaya streets now.
The ability to plot a route across the country and calculate the distance using the “Ruler” tool, find out the length of the city and the path to its center, addresses of attractions, transport stops and hospitals (the “Hybrid” scheme type), look at train stations and borders.
You will find all the necessary detailed information about the location of the city infrastructure - stations and shops, squares and banks, highways and routes, how to get there.
An accurate satellite map of Artashat with Google search is in its own section. At the moment, use the object search bar from Yandex to show the house number on the folk map of the city and Ararat region in Armenia/the world, in real time. . St. Sevaka will help you navigate the area.
Coordinates - 39.9616,44.5522
Since it is impossible to be in Armenia and not go to the market, I will describe my impressions of Armenian cities and their markets. I have probably traveled around most of the country, but I can only recognize one settlement as a city - Yerevan. All the other cities and towns where I have been are very small and only qualify for the title of regional center.
I visited one of these towns every day and several times. This is Artashat - a small city in the Ararat Valley. It is not even a regional center - the regional center here is the city of Ararat, which is also about the same size. It must be said that here cities and villages are located very densely and often the border of one settlement is the border of a neighboring settlement.
The Ararat Valley itself is located at an altitude of 400 to 800 meters above sea level. I measured this using my GPS receiver and in the comments on many of the photos I indicated the altitude at which the photo was taken. I didn’t feel the height in any way except with the device, but the camera still recorded it. This was expressed in a changed white balance, the color temperature of which was significantly lower than that of photographs taken in St. Petersburg at sea level.
Although there are a number of five-story buildings in cities
however, basically, in all the cities where I have been, with the exception of Yerevan, people live in their own one, two or three storey houses. All houses have electricity, gas and water, but I don’t know about sewerage; in the house where I lived there was no sewerage.
on Yandex.Photos
In some houses, the plumbing looks like this.
And electricity is supplied to houses in a unique way. The main thing is that there is a counter. This, as I understand it, is an electricity metering station for two owners.
But swallows live in Armenian houses. And swallows bring happiness.
In the yards of many residents, both rural and urban, live various animals, ranging from pigs
and ending with bears
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However, these bears still live on the territory of the motor depot and are a local attraction.
Old ladies like these walk the streets
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somewhat reminiscent of witches
and at the entrance to the city a new church has been built for over 10 years
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Trade in stores is often like this - almost all the goods are on the street
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This is flour, salt, sugar - here people do not skimp on trifles, as in St. Petersburg, where bags of sugar in supermarkets weigh less than a kilogram - they buy food in bags.
On the road near the city of Ararat there is a section several kilometers long where melons and watermelons brought straight from the field are sold on the side of the road.
And here I caught the moment of unloading watermelons
We bought homemade wine on the way home, late in the evening, in the village. They say the most delicious wine is made here. 
on Yandex.Photos
The most interesting place in every city is the market. Artashat is no exception and I took quite a lot of interesting pictures at the market. Notable here is the market square (haraparak in Armenian) - the only area that is not paved, but covered with cobblestones. 
on Yandex.Photos
The market square also serves as a bus station - buses and minibuses depart from here to nearby cities and villages, as well as to Yerevan.
In spring there are a lot of fresh cherries and strawberries on the market
Perhaps, tomatoes, cucumbers, potatoes, all kinds of herbs, apples, as well as imported bananas and oranges are sold here all year round.
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I especially want to say about Armenian herbs
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This is something special. Here they sell herbs that grow high in the mountains and have unique taste and medicinal qualities. For every sneeze, my Armenian friends offered me a special herb that would cure that particular sneeze. I ate so much grass here in a week that I haven’t eaten in a year at home. And I still drink tea made from dried nanograss. Not only is it medicinal, it is also very tasty.