Kumayri historic district walk

About

Kumayri is Gyumri's historic core, a name traced back to Urartian inscriptions and a Bagratid-era trading town, protected since 1980 as a historical and cultural heritage reserve. More than a thousand 19th- and 20th-century buildings built from local black and red tuff stone survived both the 1926 and 1988 earthquakes largely intact, making it one of the best-preserved traditional Armenian townscapes.
What people can do there:
Walk historic streets radiating from Vardanants Square — Abovyan, Shiraz, Rustaveli, and Jivani — past landmarks such as the Black Fortress (Sev Berd), Holy Saviour's Church, the Cathedral of the Holy Mother of God, the Dzitoghtsyan Museum of National Architecture, the Aslamazyan Sisters' Gallery, and the Hovhannes Shiraz House-Museum; photograph the tuff-stone facades; and stop at the restored Alexandrapol Brewery or TUMO Gyumri.