HISTORICAL BUILDINGS
YEREVAN BRANDY COMPANY
1944, 1952
State index: 1.6.8
Architect: Hovhannes Margaryan
Located at 2 Admiral Isakov Avenue, in the residential area of Nor Kilikia.
At the end of the 19th century and in the first decades of Soviet rule, brandy production in Yerevan was combined with winemaking. In order to separate them, it was decided to build a new brandy factory in the 1940s.
Construction of
the three-story main building of the factory began in 1949 according to the
design of architect Hovhannes Margaryan and was completed in 1952. In 1953,
brandy production, having finally separated from the Yerevan Wine-Brandy-Vodka
Factory, moved to the new building and produced its first products. Red tuff,
reminiscent of the color of brandy, was specially chosen as the building stone.
On the walls, on
the tuff surface, there are bas-reliefs on historical themes, created by
sculptor Artashes Hovsepyan.
Next to the main
building is an administrative building with a similar architectural design
(architect: Hovhannes S. Margaryan).
Over the years, along with the expansion of production, a laboratory building was constructed (1975), which also houses an exhibition hall and a tasting room, and blending workshops (1989). Architects: Sergey Nersisyan, Baghdasar Arzumanyan, Ashot Aleksanyan.
All buildings have
a combined solution of modern and Armenian classical architectural forms.
The works of
applied art located on the complex territory (sculptor-ceramist: Hripsime
Simonyan), the monument to the honored brandy master Margar Sedrakyan (1975),
and the khachkar of Mr. Pirbakhsh, brought from the large Armenian cemetery of
old Julfa, created in 1579, form a successful combination with the architecture
of the industrial structures.
In 1998, the factory was privatized and became part of the international Pernod Ricard group.
Armenian brandy
has international recognition. As early as 1901, when brandy production was
concentrated in the hands of the Russian company “Nikolay Shustov and Sons”, N.
Shustov anonymously sent brandy samples to an exhibition in Paris. The judges
and the French taster unanimously awarded the “Grand Prix” to the unknown
brandy producer, but when it was revealed that the brandy was sent from
Armenia, they were so surprised that, as an exception, they allowed Shustov to
write the word Cognac on the labels instead of Brandy. In fact, N. Shustov
became the first and only foreign producer in the history of brandy-making to
be granted such a privilege.
Armenian brandy
was also highly valued by British Prime Minister Winston Churchill.
“Scientific Research Centre of Historical and Cultural Heritage” SNCO
Yerevan Municipality
