HISTORICAL BUILDINGS

1870s

State index: 1.6.178.4.10

The house is located at the intersection of Abovyan and Pushkin Streets.

It belonged to the native Yerevan merchant Grigor Amiryan, who was engaged in the wholesale trade of manufactured goods. Amiryan owned three houses, two gardens, and part of a caravanserai. One of the city’s major commercial houses also belonged to him. From 1884, he served as a member of the City Duma.

From 1884 to 1888, the building was rented by the Yerevan Municipal Public Administration. From October 1, 1898, until December 1907 — that is, until the construction of the administrative building on Cathedral Square (now Shahumyan Square) — the City Council (Duma) was located in this house.

According to the 1900 real estate valuation register, the house belonged to Anna Aghamalovna Amiryan-Yegiazaryan, the wife of Grigor Amiryan, who had inherited the property. In July 1906, she sold the house to the Gabrielyan brothers, who later sold it to Gevorg Amiryan.

In 1910–1911, an ophthalmological hospital operated in the house, and from 1911 to 1915 it housed the well-known private hospital of Dr. Hovhannes Hovhannisyan.

According to the 1911 real estate valuation register, the building was two stories high, with a basement and an earthen roof, and was built of tuff stone. The floor of the first story was earthen, while the second floor was wooden. The ceiling was plastered, and the basement had vaulted ceilings. The main building contained one apartment with 12 rooms (excluding vestibules and kitchens) and five basement spaces. There was also a shed and a woodshed in the courtyard.

In August 1923, the house was nationalized. According to the memorial plaque attached to the main façade, the Russian writer Maxim Gorky stayed in this house in 1928. He spent the night of July 25–26 here.

For about 71 years (1937–2008), the building housed the Geological Museum named after the prominent geologist and Honored Scientist Hovhannes Karapetyan. The scientist himself also lived in this house.

The building underwent several reconstructions. Initially, it was a one-story structure built of tuff and fired brick, with an earthen roof and wooden floors. In 1909, it was reconstructed and a second floor was added, increasing the number of rooms from 6 to 12. Later, the partitions on the second floor were removed, and several rooms were merged into a single exhibition hall.

Grigor Amiryan’s first house is a two-story building with basements. The main rectangular rooms are arranged in two rows. On the southeastern side of the building there is a second structure connected to the first by a staircase. The central entrance is from Abovyan Street, while two additional entrances are from Pushkin Street.

The structural system consists of load-bearing stone walls laid in the “midis” masonry technique. The façades are plastered. The ceilings are flat, supported by wooden beams. The basements have stone vaults. The roof is sloped and covered with sheet metal.

The history of the building is an inseparable part of the history of Yerevan in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.