Martuni ( hy, Մարտունի), is a town and urban municipal community in the

Gegharkunik Province Gegharkunik ( hy, Գեղարքունիք, ) is a province ('' marz'') of Armenia. Its capital and largest city is Gavar. Gegharkunik Province is located at the eastern part of Armenia, bordering Azerbaijan. It includes the exclave of Artsvas ...

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ' ...

, located on the southern shores of

Lake Sevan Lake Sevan ( hy, Սևանա լիճ, Sevana lich) is the largest body of water in both Armenia and the Caucasus region. It is one of the largest freshwater high-altitude (alpine) lakes in Eurasia. The lake is situated in Gegharkunik Province, ...

. As of the 2011 census, the town had a population of 12,894. As per the 2016 official estimate the population of Martuni is around 11,200.

Etymology

During the medieval period, the area of present-day Martuni was known as Mets Kznut. Between 1830 and 1922 it was called Nerkin Gharanlugh. In 1926, it was named Martuni in honor of the bolshevik leader and Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of Armenia Aleksandr Myasnikyan, whose ''nom-de-guerre'' was ''Martuni''.

Culture

Martuni is home to the Holy Mother of God Church dating back to 1886. There is also an Iron Age fort excavated in 1997 by an Armenian-Italian team. Armenian refugees from Alashkert who moved to Martuni brought over their tradition of hemp seed kufteh. The kufteh is most frequently consumed during lent. Since cannabis and hemp are derived from the same plant, there have been times when the Martuni police have cracked down on local hemp bushes cultivation, incorrectly assuming the plants were involved with narcotic production.

Economy

Martuni is home to the "Arev-1" bread factory founded in 1995, and the "Golden Lens" coffee processing plant founded in 1998. Starting 2015, 10 organizations came together to develop a revival program in a village on the 100-year commemoration of the

Armenian genocide The Armenian genocide was the systematic destruction of the Armenian people and identity in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Spearheaded by the ruling Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), it was implemented primarily through t ...

. There were economic, health, child development programs, initiated by The Armenian Missionary Association of America (the AMAA), supported by World Vision Armenia, COAF, SHEN and other organizations.

Sport

The town was the original home of

Armenian Premier League The Armenian Premier League ( hy, VBET Հայաստանի Պրեմիեր Լիգա, known as the VBET Armenian Premier League for sponsorship reasons) is the top football competition in Armenia. From 1936 to 1991, the competition was held as a r ...

team

FC Alashkert Football Club Alashkert ( hy, Ֆուտբոլային Ակումբ Ալաշկերտ), commonly known as Alashkert, is an Armenian football club based in the capital Yerevan, founded in 1990 in Martuni and after folding in 2000 re-founded in 2011 ...

. The club was named for the

Western Armenia Western Armenia (Western Armenian: Արեւմտեան Հայաստան, ''Arevmdian Hayasdan'') is a term to refer to the eastern parts of Turkey (formerly the Ottoman Empire) that are part of the historical homeland of the Armenians. Weste ...

n town of Alashkert (modern day

Eleşkirt Eleşkirt ( ku, Zêdikan) is a town and district of Ağrı Province in Turkey. Its name is a transference from Alashkert ( hy, Ալաշկերտ, translit=Alaškert), the valley's former administrative centre but now a village known as Toprakkale. ...

) from where a large number of refugees came to Martuni after the

. The club was founded in 1990 and represented Martuni in the

1992 Armenian Premier League Statistics of Armenian Premier League in the 1992 season. *Koshkagorts Yerevan had its name changed to Shengavit FC Yerevan. *Pahatsoyagorts Noyemberyan had its name changed to Aznavour FC Noyemberyan. Teams Regular season Group 1 League table ...

, the first season of football in Armenia after the country's independence. They finished bottom of the Second stage, Relegation Group group and were relegated to the Armenian First League. After that first season in the top flight the club pulled out of tournament football. The club returned to play in the 1998 edition of the First League where it finished sixth. Yet after that season it pulled out again. Martuni hasn't had a team since. In 2011 local businessman Bagrat Novojan revived the name of FC Alashkert. Although the club represented both Martuni and the '' marz'' of Gegharkunik in the 2012–13 Armenian First League, in reality the club played elsewhere. He moved the club to the capital

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 ...

and the Nairi Stadium.

Gallery

Martuni city panorama (4).jpg, Martuni central square Martuni Armenia2.jpg, Martuni at dusk Մարտունի Աստվածածին եկեղեցի 01.jpg, Holy Mother of God Church in Martuni Martuni 2017.jpg, Martuni and Lake Sevan Artsakh War Memorial (Martuni, Armenia) (2).jpg, War memorial Monument Martouni (1).jpg, Monument

International relations

Partnerships

Kavala Kavala ( el, Καβάλα, ''Kavála'' ) is a city in northern Greece, the principal seaport of eastern Macedonia (Greece), Macedonia and the capital of Kavala (regional unit), Kavala regional unit. It is situated on the Bay of Kavala, across ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

, since 2001.

References

Populated places in Gegharkunik Province Erivan Governorate {{gegharkunik-geo-stub