HISTORICAL BUILDINGS
Formerly:
INTURIST, YEREVAN
The
hotel is located at 14 Abovyan Street, on Charles Aznavour Square. Its
semi-circular design follows the configuration of the square. Initially named
Inturist, then renamed Yerevan, and from 2023 onwards, Golden Tulip Grand
Hotel.
Between
1928 and 1935, the famous poet Yeghishe Charents lived in one of the luxury
rooms on the second floor of the building.
The
building was constructed in the style of Russian Neoclassicism of the early
20th century (1910s). It was originally planned as a three-story building, but
during construction a fourth floor was added, altering the architectural
solution of the structure.
The
centerpiece of the design is the semi-circular corner section with four pairs
of white Ionic columns, connecting the second and third floors recessed into
the balcony.
The
main entrance in this section leads to a spacious lobby, featuring a
plastically inclined three-flight staircase. The main theme of the side façade
(facing Abovyan Street) and the entire first floor is the semicircular arches,
which form shop windows, service rooms, and the restaurant.
The
first-floor façade is built of tuff. On the second to fourth floors, the wall
surfaces are plastered with brick-colored plaster, while the columns are
painted white. Against this background, architectural elements of the cornices,
window frames, and balconies stand out in black tuff and gray basalt.
In
1959, an annex was added on the eastern side of the hotel, the Artists’ House,
featuring a main exhibition hall (architect: Rafael Israelyan). The façade of
the exhibition hall continues the design of the hotel’s façade.
The
Golden Tulip Grand Hotel is the first hotel built in Armenia after the
establishment of the Soviet regime and is a vivid example of the Neoclassical
direction in modern Armenian architecture.
