Martuni (), is a town in the Martuni Municipality of the

Gegharkunik Province Gegharkunik (, ) is a provinces of Armenia, province (''Administrative divisions of Armenia, marz'') of Armenia. Its capital and largest city is Gavar. Gegharkunik is inhabited by approximately 209,669 people and the majority are ethnic Armenian ...

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

, located on the southern shores of

Lake Sevan Lake Sevan () is the largest body of water in both Armenia and the Caucasus region. It is one of the largest freshwater Alpine lake, high-altitude (alpine) lakes in Eurasia. The lake is situated in Gegharkunik Province, at an altitude of abov ...

. 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. As of the 2022 census, the town had a population of 11,287.

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''.

Climate

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 Armenians, 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 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 (, known as the Armenian Fastex Premier League for sponsorship reasons) is the top association football, football competition in Armenia. From 1936 to 1991, the competition was held as a regional tournament within th ...

team FC Alashkert. The club was named for the

Western Armenia Western Armenia (Western Armenian: Արեւմտեան Հայաստան, ''Arevmdian Hayasdan'') is a term to refer to the western parts of the Armenian highlands located within Turkey (formerly the Ottoman Empire) that comprise the historic ...

n town of Alashkert (modern day

Eleşkirt Eleşkirt () is a town of Ağrı Province in Turkey. It is the seat of Eleşkirt District.İl ...

) 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, 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 The Armenian First League () is currently the second level association football, football competition in Armenia after the Armenian Premier League. The competition exists mostly out of reserve teams of several Premier League clubs; however, other ...

. 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 ( , , ; ; sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia, as well as one of the world's List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerev ...

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

Notable People

* Saro Gevorgyan, singer and winner of 2021 New Wave competition.

International relations

Partnerships

Kavala Kavala (, ''Kavála'' ) is a city in northern Greece, the principal seaport of eastern Macedonia and the capital of Kavala regional unit. It is situated on the Bay of Kavala, across from the island of Thasos and on the A2 motorway, a one-and ...

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

, since 2001.

References

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