Lyon Park ( hy, Լիոնի Այգի (''Lioni Aygi'')), popularly known as Tokhmakh ( hy, Թոխմախ), is a
public park
An urban park or metropolitan park, also known as a municipal park (North America) or a public park, public open space, or municipal gardens ( UK), is a park in cities and other incorporated places that offer recreation and green space to r ...
in the
Armenian
Armenian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent
** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...
capital of
Yerevan
Yerevan ( , , hy, Երևան , sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia and one of the world's oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerevan is the administrative, cultural, and i ...
. It occupies an area of 17 hectares in the eastern
Erebuni District of the capital city. It is home to an artificial lake called ''Vardavar'', covering an area of 8 hectares.
Description
In 2010-2011, the park was entirely renovated by the direct assistance of the
Lyon
Lyon,, ; Occitan language, Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, third-largest city and Urban area (France), second-largest metropolitan area of F ...
City Council. It was reopened in July 2011 with the presence of the mayor of Lyon
Gérard Collomb
Gérard Collomb (; born 20 June 1947) is a French politician who served as Mayor of Lyon from 2001 to 2017 and again from 2018 until 2020. A member of La République En Marche! (LREM) since he left the Socialist Party (PS) in 2017, he was Mini ...
and then-mayor of Yerevan
Karen Karapetyan. The park was renamed after the city of Lyon to become a symbol of the partnership between the two cities.
The origins of the artificial lake date back to the period of king
Argishti I of Urartu
Argishti I (), was the sixth known king of Urartu, reigning from 786 BC to 764 BC. He founded the citadel of Erebuni in 782 BC, which is the present capital of Armenia, Yerevan. Alternate transliterations of the name include ''Argishtis'', ''Ar ...
during the 8th century BC. In 1578, the lake was renovated by the Turkic ruler of Yerevan ''Mehmet khan Tokhmakh'', and since then it was known as ''Tokhmakh'' lake. During the Soviet period the lake was named after the Youth wing of the Communist party. Since 2000, the lake is known with its current name.
The lake, with a water surface of 8 hectares, is frequently used for
windsurfing
Windsurfing is a wind propelled water sport that is a combination of sailing and surfing. It is also referred to as "sailboarding" and "boardsailing", and emerged in the late 1960s from the aerospace and surf culture of California. Windsurfing ga ...
.
Gallery
File:Lyon park, the entrance.jpg, The main entrance to the park
File:Lyon Park, Yerevan0618.jpg, At the park
File:Vardavar lake, Yerevan1.jpg, Dusk time
File:Vardavar lake1, Yerevan.jpg, Vardavar lake
References
{{Yerevan landmarks
8th-century BC establishments
780s BC
Parks in Yerevan
Urban public parks