Old Gyumri Tour

Visit Kumayri museum, historic houses, workshops, taverns, guesthouses and museums that make up Old Gyumri (formerly known as Alexandropl).

Park

Continue up Ajemian Street towards the park.

83. Left: Khoyetians House, 1905.The façade facing the street was covered with red paint while that facing the courtyard was left without. The window frames on the second floor are decorated with various ornaments while the frames on the first floor windows are decorated with wave molding. The building also has an interesting iron gutter, forged by one of the iron masters in Aleksandrapol city.

Continue up Ajemian Street.

On the left are two houses:

84a. Left: Abovents Family Home, late 19th century. The façade is decorated with calf's-tongue moldings (pointed details resembling tongues) and with beak or half round moldings. The house has a rarely seen wooden balcony extant to its original period, with interesting carvings.

In this house the Armenian film director Albert Mkrtchyan, shot the hugely popular Soviet Armenia tragic-comedy “Tango of our Childhood.” The film is a biography of the childhood and life of the family of “Frunze” (Mher) Mkrtchyan (Albert's brother), one of Armenia's most famous and popular comedians and actors. The film takes place after World War II and uses a love story between Mkrtchyan's character, his estranged wife and a nurse who saved his life in the war to show the trials and tribulations of life in post-World War II Armenia, and especially life in Giumri. The film is still shown on local TV and is one of the most nostalgic of that era.

A scene from the film includes this famous exchange:

- I turned on the lights and I will keep burning them -- on and off, on and off, on and off.

- Turn them on! Burn them!

- Yes! I will burn them!

- Yes! That's all you can do- burn! You burned me! You burned the children! Now you are going to burn down the house!

From the upper corner of this house, turn Left.

84b. Left opposite the park: Post Office, 19th-20th centuries. This building was the first post-office of the city. Above the iron gates is a wonderful bas-relief carving of branches forming the construction date. The façade and window framings are also decorated with moldings.

Return to the corner and cross into the park.

The text for this walking tour was edited by the Kumaiyri Preserve-Museum.