Ulukhanlu

Masis ( hy, Մասիս) is a town and urban municipal community in the Ararat Province of Armenia, located on the left bank of the Hrazdan River, 9 km southwest of Yerevan towards Mount Ararat. The town has a large railroad commodity station that serves Yerevan, and used to connect the capital city with the Nakhichevan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic until the closing of the border with Azerbaijan.

Masis is one of the closest settlements to Mount Ararat and Little Ararat. The mountains are visible from most of the areas in the town.

As of the 2011 census, the population of the town was 20,215. As per the 2016 official estimate, the town has a population of 18,500.

Etymology

Masis ( hy, Մասիս) is the Armenian name for the peak of Mount Ararat.Thomson, p. 90-98. The ''History of Armenia'' derives the name from king ''Amasia'', the great-grandson of the Armenian patriarch Hayk, who is said to have called the mountain ''Masis'' after his own name.

History

Historically, the territory of modern-day Masis was included within the ''Vostan Hayots'' canton of the historical province of Ayrarat of Ancient Armenia.

Masis originally consisted of three villages: ''Narimanlu'', ''Zangibasar'', and ''Ulukhanlu''. During the period of the First Republic of Armenia (1918–1920), the Turkic-speaking Muslim population of Zangibasar and other nearby villages, with the support of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, rebelled against Armenian authorities with the intention of attaching the area to Azerbaijan. After issuing an ultimatum to the rebels to submit to Armenian rule, which was rejected, Armenian forces recaptured Zangibasar on 20 June 1920 and drove out some of the Turkic population of the village․ The Turkic population of Ulukhanlu, on the other hand, remained loyal to Armenian rule.

Masis was officially founded by the Soviet government in 1953 as ''Hrazdan'', after the merger of the villages of ''Narimanlu'', ''Zangibasar'', and ''Ulukhanlu''. In 1969 the settlement was renamed ''Masis'' to become the centre of the re-founded ''Masis raion'' (formerly known as ''Zangibasar raion'' form 1937 until it was abolished in 1953). Within 2 years, Masis was given the status of an urban-type settlement in 1971.

The settlement was developed as centre for agricultural products and light industries during the Soviet years. It gradually became home to many large firms including the ''Al. Miasnikian'' furniture factory, the Masis unit of the Yerevan carpet weaving factory, as well as branch of the Yerevan paper manufacturing plant.

After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Masis was granted the status of a town within the newly-formed Ararat Province, based on the new law of the territorial administration of the Republic of Armenia passed in 1995.

Masis is connected with a number of villages stretching up to the Aras River at the border with Turkey. At nights, one can see the lights of many Kurdish villages on the slopes of Mount Ararat in Turkey.

Geography

Masis is located in the Ararat plain on the left bank of Hrazdan River, 16 km southwest of Yerevan on the road to the ancient city of Artashat. It has an average height of 854 meters above sea level.

Summer in general is short but hot in Masis, while winter is relatively long and very cold.

Demographics

Population

The majority of the population in Masis are ethnic Armenians who arrived in the area from the Iranian cities of Khoy and Salmas, after the Russo-Persian War of 1826–28.

Here is the population timeline of Masis since 1959:.

Religion

The vast majority of the population in Masis belong to the Armenian Apostolic Church. The regulating body of the church is the Araratian Pontifical Diocese, headed by Archbishop Navasard Kchoyan (seat in Yerevan).

The small church of Saint George opened in 2009, was the first church of Masis. However, the town's main church is the church of Saint Thaddeus, consecrated on October 4, 2015, by Catholicos of All Armenians Garegin II. The foundations of the church were laid in 1991. In 2005 the construction of the church was initiated and financed by philanthropist Hrant Vardanyan, and all the construction works were completed by his sons Mikayel and Karen.

Culture

Masis has a 16th-century chapel named after Saint Thaddeus, and a 19th-century church known as the Holy Mother of God.

Currently, the town has a public library and a music school named after Arno Babajanian.

The World War II monument erected in 1983 is one of the main landmarks of Masis.

Transportation

Masis has a railway station since the formation of the town. It used to connect Yerevan with Nakhchivan as well as Iran during the Soviet era. However, after the dissolution of the USSR, the station was abandoned.

The M-2 Motorway that connects the capital Yerevan with southern Armenia, passes through the eastern borders of the town of Masis.

Economy

The industrial district of Masis occupies the western half of the town. Unfortunately, most of the Soviet industry in Masis was abandoned after the independence of Armenia. However, Masis is currently a major centre for tobacco products in Armenia and Transcaucasia, with 2 giant manufacturers: ''Masis Tobacco'' factory (since 1999) and ''International Masis Tabak'' factory (since 2002).

It is also home to the ''Grand Master'' corrugated cardboard packaging manufacturing and label printing factory (since 1995), ''Masis Garun'' knitting factory (since 1995), ''Berma'' company for construction and building materials (since 1997), ''Masis Woodcraft'' factory (since 2004), ''Medical Horizons'' pharmaceuticals factory (since 2005), ''Masis Woodworking Center'', and ''Sonomad'' plant for building materials .

Masis is home to the largest slaughterhouse in Armenia, the ''Voske Katsin'' Armenian-Iranian joint-venture. It was founded in 2015 and became the first slaughterhouse in Armenia that provides its products with the '' Halal'' certification.

Education

As of 2017, Masis has 6 public education schools and 6 kindergartens. It is also home to the Masis State Agricultural College.

Sport

Masis FC represented the town in the domestic football competitions until 1994 when the club was dissolved due to financial difficulties.

The Masis Children and Youth Sports School named after Armen Nazaryan was opened in September 2016.

On March 28, 2017, the construction of a new sports centre was launched in the town of Masis, with the donation of the Adibekyan Family Foundation for Advancement (AFFA). The centre which is set to be completed in June 2018 with a cost of US$2 million, will have fields for mini-football, basketball, outdoors sports, as well as a children's playground and a social family club.

Notable people

* Armen Nazaryan, two-time Olympic Greco-Roman Wrestling Champion with Armenia and Bulgaria

See also

* Gortsaranayin Street in Masis town, the Republic of Armenia, was renamed after Hrant Vardanyan on February 5, 2019.Street in Masis renamed after Hrant Vardanyan
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* Masis (village)

References

{{Cities and towns in Armenia

Populated places in Ararat Province
Mount Ararat
Yazidi populated places in Armenia