Vartanants Square ( hy, Վարդանանց Հրապարակ ''Vartanants Hraparak'') or Vardanants Square, is the large central

town square A town square (or square, plaza, public square, city square, urban square, or ''piazza'') is an open public space, commonly found in the heart of a traditional town but not necessarily a true square, geometric square, used for community gathe ...

Gyumri Gyumri ( hy, Գյումրի, ) is an urban municipal community and the second-largest city in Armenia, serving as the administrative center of Shirak Province in the northwestern part of the country. By the end of the 19th century, when the city w ...

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 ''Ox ...

. It is bordered by the Abovyan street from the west, Gai street from the north, Shahumyan street from the east and Vahan Cheraz street from the south. It has a rectangular shape (280 by 140 meters). The square was known as the ''

May Uprising The May Uprising ( hy, Մայիսյան ապստամբություն, translit=Mayisyan apstambutyun) was a coup d'état attempt by the Armenian Bolsheviks that started in Alexandropol (modern-day Gyumri) on May 10, 1920. It was eventually suppr ...

Square'' ( hy, Մայիսյան Ապստամբության հրապարակ), named after the failed Bolshevik uprising against the

Dashnak The Armenian Revolutionary Federation ( hy, Հայ Յեղափոխական Դաշնակցութիւն, ՀՅԴ ( classical spelling), abbr. ARF or ARF-D) also known as Dashnaktsutyun (collectively referred to as Dashnaks for short), is an Armenian ...

government of the

First Republic of Armenia The First Republic of Armenia, officially known at the time of its existence as the Republic of Armenia ( hy, Հայաստանի Հանրապետութիւն), was the first modern Armenian state since the loss of Armenian statehood in the Middle ...

in May 1920. The square was opened during the 1930s under the

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

rule, based on the original plan of

Alexander Tamanian Alexander Tamanian (, March 4, 1878 – February 20, 1936) was a Russian-born Armenian neoclassical architect, well known for his work in the city of Yerevan. Life and work Tamanian was born in the city of Yekaterinodar in 1878 in the family ...

and the revised plan of D. Chislian.

Description

The square is decorated with several fountains with a memorial to the

Battle of Avarayr The Battle of Avarayr ( hy, Ավարայրի ճակատամարտ ''Avarayri čakatamart'') was fought on 2 June 451 on the Avarayr Plain in Vaspurakan between a Christian Armenian army under Vardan Mamikonian and Sassanid Persia. It is conside ...

at the central part. The memorial was erected in 2008 and includes a group of historic Armenian figures who led the Armenian army's campaign against Sassanid Persia. The equestrian statue of Vartan Mamikonian is erected at the centre of the memorial. The other four statues depict the Catholicos Hovsep I of Armenia, Ghevond Yerets, V. Mamikonian's mother and the prince Arshavir II Kamsarakan. On 25 June 2016,

Pope Francis Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...

delivered a Holy Mass at the Vartanants Square. Catholicos of All Armenians

Garegin II Catholicos Karekin II ( hy, Գարեգին Բ, also spelled Garegin; born 21 August 1951) is the current Catholicos of All Armenians, the supreme head of the Armenian Apostolic Church. In 2013 he was unanimously elected the Oriental Orthodox hea ...

also took part in the ceremony.Pope Francis' Mass begins in Gyumri
/ref>

Buildings around the square

The square is surrounded with many significant buildings: *The Gyumri City Hall built in 1933, occupies the eastern side. *The 19th-century Church of the Holy Saviour to the south of the square. *The 19th-century Cathedral of the Holy Mother of God north and the "October" cinema hall of 1926, on the northern side. *A hotel built in 1927 on the western edge of the square.

Gallery

File:Gyumri Saint Vardan and the city hall.jpg, The city hall File:7 verq 3.JPG, Cathedral of the Holy Mother of God File:Գյումրու Կինոհոկտեմբեր թատրոն 0103.JPG, "October" cinema hall File:Holy Saviour Church, Gyumri.jpg, Church of the Holy Saviour File:Pope Francis, Gyumri 04.jpg, Holly mass by

at the square

References

{{Gyumri Buildings and structures in Gyumri Squares in Gyumri National squares