House Museums of Armenia

Travel Wire YEREVAN, ARMENIA The rain was unrelenting the day my friend, Gohar, and I took a cab that took us from Republic Square to the highest part of Yerevan, well beyond the Cascade, to the birthplace and museum dedicated to Khachatur Abovyan. At the time that Abovyan was born, Kanaker was a small village on the outskirts of Yerevan. Today it is part of the city. There are several interpretations of the name’s origin, one being that it was the name of one of Noah’s sons and when the Ark landed and the waters ebbed, Noah’s son settled here....

Travel Wire ZANGAKATUN, ARMENIA Zangakatun is in the Ararat Province which one reaches by driving south easterly from Yerevan for about 40-45 minutes. Nestled in this rich agricultural part of the country is this bucolic village which is dry and hilly and where tamarisk, buckthorn and spurge grow naturally. It is here where the larks, wrens and finches nest and where the home, museum and final resting place of Baruyr Sevag (1924-1971) is found, one of Armenia’s most beloved poets....

Travel Wire VANADZOR, ARMENIA I was warmly remembered by Razmig Boghosian, Director of the Stepan Zoryan House Museum and a member of the Union of Armenian Writers, and Juliette Yeghayan, former director (1981-1992), as I stepped into the foyer of the museum at 24 Stepan Zoryan Street, Vanadzor, Armenia. It is a beautiful pink stone (tufa) house with an inviting courtyard adorned with apple trees, rose bushes and a bust of the writer by sculptor Marat Minasyan....

Travel Wire We visited Hovhannes Toumanian’s boyhood home in Dsegh on our June 2003 trip. That was an epiphany for me. It was at that time that I recalled Father Diran’s appeal to learn more about our Armenian authors and to celebrate our Armenian literary heritage year round. When I returned last year, I undertook the task. It has been and continues to be a wonder-filled journey with one discovery after another unfolding....

Travel Wire YEREVAN, ARMENIA It was a very hot, sunny summer’s day in the latter part of June when my friend and I knocked at the door of 26 Zarubian Street, Yerevan, Armenia. One cannot visit Armenia without hearing the name Isahakyan. It is a ‘household’ word, for Avetik Isahakyan is an icon of the Armenian people. He lived a long and fully productive life, creating poetry and prose that has found its way into the heart and soul of his people....

Travel Wire YEREVAN, ARMENIA Usually it is very hot and dry in Armenia during the month of July in Yerevan, Armenia. However, it rained heavily throughout this one particular day during my last visit. My friend Gohar had a morning to spend with me before she met her students to teach English lessons. She and I sported our umbrellas and boldly walked up Abovian Street from Hotel Armenia. We reached our destination - 29 Abovian Street - where together for one hour we mused over the life of a man who had lived and worked at that address in what is today known as the Derenik Demirdjian House Museum....

Travel Wire Recently my husband and I returned from a two-week visit to Armenia. Every time that we visit, we encounter new people, places, events. On this trip I had a personal mission to visit as many of the Armenian authors’ House Museums as our schedule would allow as I am presently writing monthly installments about Armenian authors for the St. Leon Armenian Church newsletter (Lradoo) at the request of Father Diran Bohajian....