HISTORICAL BUILDINGS

1905

The house is located on Abovyan Street. It is attached to the house of his brother, Grigor Yeghiazaryan.

Barségh Yeghiazaryan originally built the house in the first half of the 1880s (1884).

The house was a two-story structure built of tuff stone. The roof was covered with sheet metal. It had 7 stoves, 15 doors, and 47 windows. The balcony was made of wood and iron. The floors were also wooden. It had 12 rooms and 2 kitchens. In the courtyard there were 3 small shops.

Although 1884 is considered the official construction date, the building was likely completed later, at the beginning of the 20th century (1905).

The house belonged to Barsegh Yeghiazaryan, a member of the city duma, a wealthy merchant, public figure, philanthropist, and one of the sponsors of the Yerevan water supply system. He also owned the Textile and Cotton Trading Company founded in 1876, the trading house “B. E. Yeghiazaryan & Co.”, a cotton pressing factory, and others.

In 1914, the heirs of B. Yeghiazaryan ceded the upper floor of the building to the charitable “Armenian Hospital.” In 1920, the proclamation of Soviet power in Armenia was announced from the building’s balcony. Afterwards, until 1937, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Armenia was located here. From 1951 to 1981 it served as the City House of Enlightenment named after Stepan Shahumyan, and since 1981 it has housed the administration of the “Knowledge” Society of the Armenian SSR.

Restoration works were carried out between 2015 and 2017. Since 2017, a branch of the “Noyan Tapan” bookstore has operated for some time in part of the building.

The Barsegh Yeghiazaryan house is a two-story structure. The main building contains the group of reception and residential rooms. The narrower side wing contains auxiliary rooms. The entrance hall and staircase are located in a separate volume. There are halls facing the courtyard. In the center of the upper floor is a cantilever balcony connected to the hall.

The symmetry of the main northwestern façade is broken only by the placement of the entrance. Vertical articulations divide the façade and emphasize the entrance. The wall is finished with deep banded rusticated stone. The openings are semicircular and arched. In the lower row they are framed with rough-hewn stone, while above they are bordered by flat archivolts. In the vertical articulations, the windows are triple-sashed with Ionic columns in between.

The cantilever balcony rests on openwork metal supports and has a similar balustrade.

The decorative ornamentation of the building is concentrated on the second floor: the window niches are decorated with large vegetal reliefs, the lintels feature various rosettes, the frieze is adorned with simple interlaced ornament, and the crowning cornice is decorated with dentils and modillions.

The walls are load-bearing, the ceilings are flat and wooden, and the roof is pitched. The street-facing façade is clad in black tuff.