Sardarapat Memorial
Battle memorial and ethnography museum
- Area Armavir
- Type Memorial
- Time needed 1h 15m
The Sardarapat Memorial in Armavir commemorates the 1918 battle fought nearby against advancing Ottoman forces, and shares its grounds with the national ethnography museum. The architecture is deliberately monumental, in red tuff, on open ground near the Turkish border.
Open in the planner →Getting there
It is about 69 km and roughly 1h 15m from Yerevan on the app's estimate, west across the Ararat plain. The approach road is signed from the main highway.
What you see
A bell tower stands at the head of a processional avenue lined with winged bulls and eagles, leading to a wall of relief carving. Behind it, the ethnography museum holds carpets, agricultural tools, costume and household objects from across historic Armenia. The scale of the open site and its emptiness are part of the effect.
What to pair it with
Metsamor's Bronze Age site and museum lie back towards Yerevan, and the churches of Echmiadzin are on the same route.
When to go
Spring and autumn are more comfortable; the plain is very hot and shadeless in summer. The museum keeps its own hours and is likely to be closed one day a week. [VERIFY — confirm current details]
What is hard about it
The memorial is Soviet-era monumental design and leaves some visitors cold, and the museum labelling is limited in English and Russian. It is a long drive for a site with little else nearby.
Common questions
What does the memorial commemorate?
The battle fought at Sardarapat in May 1918, which halted an Ottoman advance towards Yerevan and is a central event in Armenian national memory.
Is the museum worth the visit by itself?
For anyone interested in Armenian material culture, yes. The carpet and costume collections are substantial.
What are the opening hours?
They vary by season and the museum closes at least one day a week. [VERIFY — confirm current details]
Nearby
- Echmiadzin CathedralMother church of the Armenian Apostolic Church
- Zvartnots Cathedral ruinsRuins of a 7th-century circular cathedral
- St Hripsime ChurchModel of classical 7th-century Armenian architecture
- St Gayane ChurchHarmonious 7th-century church in Echmiadzin
- Shoghakat ChurchSmall 17th-century church in Echmiadzin
- MetsamorBronze Age metallurgy site and museum
More of the same kind
- Armenian Genocide MemorialHilltop memorial and museum to the victims of 1915
- Mother ArmeniaMonumental statue in Victory Park above the city
- Komitas PantheonResting place of Armenia's great artists and writers