SQUARES AND PARKS
Sculptor Artak Hambardzumyan
The park is located behind the monument to Garegin Nzhdeh, in the intermediate section of the Main Avenue between Nalbandyan and Republic streets, opposite the “Republic Square” metro station and the first and third government buildings.
It was commissioned on October 11, 2014. It is decorated
with three water reservoirs, fountains, lawns, and benches.
As part of the events dedicated to the 100th anniversary
of the Armenian Genocide, on April 20, 2015, an open-air exhibition titled “Cultural
Genocide: The Mystery of Khachkars” was opened in the park, presenting copies of 13
khachkars destroyed in Western Armenia (Ani, Derzhan, Vaspurakan,
Baghesh-Bitlis) and Nakhichevan (old Jugha, Jahuk).
The fourteenth khachkar was installed in the park in 2022
to mark the 20th anniversary of Pope John Paul II's visit to Armenia on the
occasion of the 1700th anniversary of the adoption of Christianity as the state
religion in Armenia.
At the beginning of the Khachkar Park (from Nalbandyan
Street side), four large, roughly hewn stone fragments with cuneiform
inscriptions are also installed. The inscriptions are partially copied from the
cuneiform chronicles of the rulers of one of the powerful states of the Ancient
East - the Kingdom of Van (Biaynili): Argishti I (786-764 BC) - Khorkhor
Chronicle and Sarduri II (764-735 BC). Copies of texts from the Khorkhor
Chronicle about the construction of Erebuni fortress (782 BC) and the city of
Argishtikhinili (776 BC) are also presented here.
Gray basalt, black, red, and brown tuff were used as
building materials. The author of all installed monuments is master stonemason
Artak Hambardzumyan.
The Khachkar Park is one of the favorite recreation spots
for Yerevan residents.
“Scientific Research Centre of Historical and Cultural Heritage” SNCO
Yerevan Municipality
