The Charents Arch is a small monument erected on a hill to the east of Yerevan. It is located on the road, in the direction of the Garni Temple and the Geghard Monastery. Tourists heading to these attractions often make a stop near the Charents Arch to see a beautiful view of Mount Ararat and the Ararat Valley.
The Charents Arch was built by the Armenian architect Rafael Israelian in 1957, when the 60th anniversary of the birth of the Armenian poet Yeghishe Charents was celebrated. He was born in 1897. In Armenia, he is ranked among the great classics of Armenian literature. In 1937, Egishe Charents was arrested by the NKVD. After interrogations in the isolation ward, he was transferred to the hospital, where he died.
Some Armenian historians write that the Charents Arch became the first monument to the victims of Stalin`s repressions. Perhaps this is true, but until the 1980s hardly anyone emphasized this. The arch is dedicated to the great Armenian writer, not to the victims of Stalin`s repressions. For most tourists, the Charents Arch is one of the most beautiful viewing point in Armenia.
The arch is built in the form of a cube of red tuff and basalt. Its height reaches 5 meters, and its width is 7.4 meters. Raphael Israelian has built many buildings in Armenia. In Yerevan, its most famous buildings are the Ararat Brandy Company and the Mother Armenia Monument in Victory Park.
Creating the Charents Arch, he decided to build an architectural frame of the view of Mount Ararat. Going up the steps, at first you only see the roof of the arch, but when you enter the observation deck, you see Ararat in the archway. On the right side, you can see the whole of Yerevan, lying in the Ararat Valley.
