Posted by We finally leave the isolation of the south west of Armenia behind us and drive into the large city of Gyumri. Today it is the second biggest city in Armenia and it has been an important city for centuries. Back when the Russians established an administrative center in their Armenian province they choose Gyumri as the location. Hence a relative large number of people and money went into the city.
Museum in an old building in Gyumri 
Old church at the museum
Fortunately the city population seems to have topped early so there has only been a limited need for redevelopment of the city and the old town has survived relatively intact. A couple of earthquakes through time have taken its toll particularly a huge earthquake in 1988 – but most of the old town has survived.
Inside church 
Roof of the church 
Alter at the church 
Church from the outside
The city has an interesting architecture making it a nice stay to go and wonder around the street of the small city. There are several large squares with some houses around them and along the different side streets are the Old Russian style buildings which are different from what I have seen anywhere else making the city interesting to wonder around.
Old houses along the street 
Old house on the street 
Street corner 
Old house under reconstruction 
Statue in front of old house 
Square in Gyumri 
The main square in Gyumri 
Statue at the main square 
main square, church and fountain in Gyumri
Naturally there are also some old Armenian churches featuring prominently across the city which give the Russian city an Armenian vibe to it. The city is a nice place to go and wonder but unfortunately we have a little tight schedule and we need to go to our hotel in a city a fair drive away. We want to arrive before it gets too late so we have to go out and hit the road again.
FrejaTravels 