Shirak, is a province (marz) of Armenia. It is located in the north-west of the country, bordering Turkey in the west and Georgia in the north. Its capital and largest city is Gyumri. It is as much semi-desert as it is mountain meadow or high alpine. In the south, the high steppes merge into mountain terrain, being verdant green in the spring, with hues of reddish brown in the summer. The province is served by the Shirak International Airport of Gyumri.
Spitak, is a town and urban municipal community in the northern Lori Province of Armenia. It is 96 km (60 mi) north of the capital, Yerevan, and 22 km (14 mi) west of the provincial centre, Vanadzor. Spitak was entirely destroyed during the devastating 1988 earthquake, and it was rebuilt in a slightly different location. As of the 2011 census, the population of the town is 12,881. Currently, the town has an approximate population of 11,000 as per the 2016 official estimate.
Gyumri is an urban municipal community and the second largest city in Armenia, serving as the administrative centre of Shirak Province in the northwestern part of the country. By the end of the 19th century, when the city was known as Alexandropol, it was one of the largest cities of Russian-ruled Eastern Armenia with a population similar to that of Yerevan. It was renamed to Leninakan during the Soviet period. The city's population grew above 200,000 prior to the 1988 Spitak earthquake, when it was devastated. As of the 2011 census, the city had a population of 121,976, down from 150,917 reported at the 2001 census.
Avetik Isahakyan was a prominent Armenian lyric poet, writer and public activist.
The National Polytechnic University of Armenia, is a technical university located in Yerevan, Armenia. Established as the Karl Marx Institute of Polytechnic in 1933, it provides educational and research programs in various fields of technology and science related to engineering. The university includes a Central Campus in Yerevan and Branch Campuses located in Gyumri, Vanadzor and Kapan. Currently there are more than 8,000 students and more than 750 faculty members.
Artik, is a town and urban municipal community in the Shirak Province of Armenia. As of the 2011 census, the town had a population of 19,534. As per the 2016 official estimate, the population of Artik is around 18,800.
Maralik, is a town and the centre of the urban community of Ani, in Shirak Province at the northwest of Armenia. As of the 2011 census, the population of the town is 5,398, down from 5,782 reported in the 2001 census. As per the 2016 official estimate, the population of Maralik is around 5,500.
The Kars–Gyumri–Tbilisi railway line is a railway line that runs from the city of Kars in Turkey to the Armenian city of Gyumri, and from there on to Tbilisi, Georgia.
Sergey Dmitrievich Merkurov was a prominent Soviet sculptor-monumentalist of Greek-Armenian descent. He was a People's Artist of the USSR, an academic at the Soviet Academy of Arts, and director of the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts from 1944 to 1949. Merkurov was considered the greatest Soviet master of post-mortem masks. He was the sculptor of the three biggest monuments of Joseph Stalin in the USSR.
The Tango of Our Childhood is a 1985 Soviet-Armenian tragicomedy film written and directed by Albert Mkrtchyan and starring Frunzik Mkrtchyan and Galya Novents. Novents' performance as a mother who struggles to raise her children during post-World War II Armenia was awarded Special Mention at the Venice Film Festival. Mkrtchyan dedicated the autobiographical story to his hometown of Gyumri. The filming locations highlighted the historic buildings of Gyumri which were marked for preservation as the Kumayri Reserve in 1980.
Erebuni, is one of the 12 districts of Yerevan, the capital of Armenia. It is situated southeast of the city centre where Erebuni Fortress is located. The name of Yerevan itself is derived from ancient Erebuni.
The Armenians have historically been one of the main ethnic groups in the city of Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia. Armenians are the largest ethnic minority in Tbilisi at 4.8% of the population. Armenians migrated to the Georgian lands in the Middle Ages, during the Muslim rule of Armenia. They formed the single largest group of city's population in the 19th century. Official Georgian statistics of 2014 put the number of Armenians in Tbilisi 53,409 people.
Shirak Gyumri Sports Club, commonly known as Shirak is an Armenian professional sports club based in Gyumri. Shirak is known for its professional football team which is one of the oldest football clubs in Armenia, having been created in 1958. The club is the only team that participated in all seasons of the Armenian Premier League. since its creation in 1992. Shirak is one of the more successful clubs in Armenia, having won a total of 11 domestic titles including four Armenian Premier League titles, two Armenian Cup, and five Armenian Super Cup.
Mikayel Nalbandian Shirak State University, is a public university in Gyumri, the capital of Shirak Province, Armenia, opened in 1934.
Vartanants Square or Vardanants Square, is the large central town square in Gyumri, Armenia. It is bordered by the Abovyan street from the west, Gai street from the north, Shahumyan street from the east and Vahan Cheraz street from the south. It has a rectangular shape.
Independence Square is a large square at the centre of Gyumri city, Armenia. It is the second square of the city after the central Vartanants Square. The square is intersected by the streets of Khrimian Hayrik, Garegin Nzhdeh, Alex Manoogian, Sayat Nova Avenue and Tigranes the Great Avenue. It has a shape of square and was completed during the 1940s, after World War II.
Cathedral of the Holy Mother of God, also known as the Our Lady of Seven Wounds, is a 19th-century church in Gyumri, Armenia. Occupying the northern side of the Vartanants Square, the cathedral is the seat of the Diocese of Shirak of the Armenian Apostolic Church. The church was constructed between 1873 and 1884.
Holy Saviour's Church, is a 19th-century church in Gyumri, Armenia. It occupies the southern side of the Vartanants Square at the centre of Gyumri. It was constructed between 1858 and 1872 and consecrated in 1873.
State Academy of Fine Arts of Armenia, is a state-owned public university located in Yerevan, Armenia. Founded in 1946, operating jointly with the Yerevan State Institute of Theatre and Cinematography, the Fine Arts Academy had become independent since 1994.
Poloz Mukuch was a popular Gyumri satirist and fabulist.
