HISTORICAL BUILDINGS

1887

The complex is located on the elevated left bank of the Hrazdan River gorge, on the territory of the former Yerevan Fortress, on Argishti Street.

In 1877, the well-known merchant and philanthropist Nerses Tairyan began wine production on a land plot purchased within the territory of the Yerevan Fortress, and from 1887 onward also initiated brandy production, which quickly became a leading enterprise in the field. In 1887, Tairyan received financial support for the construction of the factory building from his relative, the world-famous marine painter Hovhannes Aivazovsky.

In 1899, Tairyan leased the factory to one of the major Russian commercial-industrial companies, “Nikolay Shustov and Sons,” which purchased the factory a year later and expanded it into a large production complex.

Between 1887 and 1910, the Tairyan–Shustov wine-making complex was constructed (architect: Mikhail von der Nonne).

The oldest surviving structure on the factory grounds is the cellar (1877).

The main products were wine, vodka, and brandy, exported to Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Warsaw, Persia, Japan, and European countries, where they gained wide recognition. At the beginning of the 20th century, the company was granted the privilege of supplying brandy to the court of Tsar Nicholas II. By the late 1910s, Shustov’s enterprise accounted for 90 percent of the total wine, brandy, and vodka production in the Yerevan Governorate.

By 1912, the complex, together with the buildings of the Tairyan period, included more than twenty structures. Outside the factory grounds operated a hydroelectric power station that supplied electricity to both the factory and part of the city.

In 1920, the complex was nationalized, and in May 1921 it was renamed the Yerevan “Ararat” Wine-Brandy-Vodka Combine (“Ararat Trust”), which united all wine and brandy factories of Soviet Armenia.

In the 1930s, construction of the cellar building began on the site of the Sardar’s Palace. The construction was carried out in two phases: in 1937 (architects: Rafael Israelyan and Gevorg Kochar) and in 1961 (architect: Rafael Israelyan; sculptor: Ara Harutyunyan). With its flat roofs, the building resembled fortress walls rising above the cliffs of the Hrazdan gorge, symbolizing the historical presence of the Yerevan Fortress on this site.

As a result of the 1948 reorganization, in 1953 the Yerevan Wine Combine and the Yerevan Brandy Factory were separated, and in the same year the construction of the new brandy factory building was completed.

Reconstruction works were also carried out in the complex in 1980.

National themes dominate the sculptural decorations of the wine combine, mainly depicting scenes from Armenian fables.

The complex stands out for its impressive architectural solutions and high historical and cultural value.