Private Gyumri Walking City Tour

Vardanants Square: This is Gyumri’s central town square, where your walking tour will begin. The square is decorated with several fountains with a memorial to the Battle of Avarayr at the central part. The square was known as the May Uprising Square, named after the failed Bolshevik uprising against the First Republic of Armenia in May 1920.

Black Fortress: This large, round fortress, also known as Sev Ghul to local people, is a Russian imperial fortress dating back to the 1830s. Built using black stone atop a hill overlooking Gyumri, it once protected Russian troops from the Ottoman Empire. During times of siege, the fortress could accommodate an astonishing 15,000 people!

Holy Savior’s Church: The Holy Savior’s Church is located to the south of Gyumri’s central Vardanants Square. Constructed between 1858 and 1873, it was designed to resemble the main cathedral of the medieval Armenian capital of Ani. The church was heavily damaged by the 1988 earthquake and was completely restored recently.

Cathedral of the Holy Mother of God: Also known as Yot Verk, or Seven Wounds, built between 1873 and 1884, this church is found at the northeast corner of Vardanants Square. The nickname Seven Wounds comes from an icon that was kept there, known as the “Seven Wounds of the Holy Mother of God.” When Armenian Church leaders in Etchmiadzin decided to move the icon out of the city, local people rebelled. This church today was built specifically to keep the icon, where it is found today.

Kumayri Historical and Cultural Museum-Reserve: The Kumayri Historic District of Gyumri is the city’s old center, where you’ll find over 1,000 buildings dating back to the 19th and 20th centuries. The district is the only place in Armenia where you’ll see authentic urban Armenian architecture, including the beautiful Armenian Belle Époque style of the 19th century. The streets here are lined with the opulent facades of old mansions, theaters, coffeehouses, and workshops made of volcanic black and red tuff stone in various degrees of both decay and reconstruction.

Mushurba Monument: A “mushurba” or “Kelkelan” is a special cup made of copper, silver, and on rare occasions gold, that makes a loud gurgitation sound when you sip from it. That’s because the cup is made in a way so that air does not escape it when liquid is poured in, thus the bubbling sound when you drink or pour. Mushurbas are unique to Gyumri and were very popular at the turn of the 20th century. The cup is so special, that this statue in the shape of a Murshuba was erected in the center of town.

Villa Kars: Gyumri's first boutique hotel, this Art Nouveau treasure has a facade resurrected to its former glory in the Armenian Belle Epoque style. It is a prime example of what Gyumri once looked like during its golden era at the turn of what life in Gyumri was like back then.

Varem Marem Studio: Located across the street from an iconic balcony featured in the classic 1985 film “Tango of Our Childhood,” Varem Marem Art Studio and the street where it’s located is a popular gathering place for the city’s young artists. While there you’ll have the chance to grab a coffee from the entrepreneurial young people who have opened up a walk-through coffee shop called Coffee Window right next door. It’s literally a hole in the wall through which you can grab a coffee to go.

Luxe Barbershop: Luxe Barbershop has been operating since 1940. It’s the oldest barbershop still functioning in Armenia. A living museum left over from the Soviet era, the interior of the barbershop – and its barbers – remain relatively unchanged. In a room characterized by a tin ceiling, chandeliers, wood wall paneling, scuffed hardwood floors, and cracked red seats, barbers do the work that’s been done here for the past 60 years.