Republic Square is the largest square in Yerevan and the whole of Armenia. It is located in the center of the Old City of Yerevan and is the most convenient place to start excursions around the historical center of the city. All the main sights of Yerevan are located within walking distance from Republic Square.
Erebuni Fortress, from which Yerevan originates, was founded in 781 BC. In the following centuries, the city was formed around it. However, in the 18th and 19th centuries, the geographical center of Yerevan moved to the north, to the bank of the Hrazdan River.
In 1924, the great Armenian architect Alexander Tamayan developed the general plan of Yerevan. Thanks to him, a new look of Yerevan was formed, with a convenient layout and wide streets. Republic Square in the Tamayan general plan has become the geographical center of the city. The excavations of the ancient fortress of Erebuni are located 6.5 km south-east of it.
The Republic Square has the shape of an oval. The facades of five buildings overlook it: the Government of Armenia, the Post Office of Armenia, the Marriott Hotel. In one of the buildings there are various hotels, banks and companies (previously it housed the Armenian Foreign Ministry). To the north of the main oval of Republic Square there is a light and music fountain, and behind it stands the most monumental building on the square: the Museum of the History of Armenia and the National Gallery.
All the buildings are built of pink and white tuff, which is mined in local quarries. The architecture of the buildings is designed in the same style with arches and national stone carvings. They were designed in 1924 by architect Alexander Tamayan. However, the construction took almost three decades. The Armenian Government building was completed in 1941. The construction of other buildings was completed by the end of the 1950s.
The building of the Armenian History Museum was initially four-storied, but in the 1970s the central part of the museum was made eight-storied and the exposition of the National Gallery of Armenia was placed in it. In the evenings, a Singing Fountain Show is held in front of the Museum of Armenia, which tourists and residents of the city come to see.
Abovyan Street stretches to the north from Republic Square. It is one of the interesting tourist attractions of the city, where the appearance of Yerevan of the 19th century has been preserved. Further from it, the pedestrian Northern Avenue branches off to the northwest, where you can go to Liberty Square and further to the Cascade Architectural Complex. This is one of the most popular walking routes in Yerevan.
