The name of the Armenian capital, Yerevan, comes from the name of an ancient city, Erebuni, that many centuries ago used to be the capital of the ancient state of Urartu. The city had existed since before our era. It had gone through a lot of changes, cataclysms, shifts of power, and falls of empires. Nevertheless, its beautiful ruins impress the progeny with their grandeur even now.

Erebuni fortress, the biggest part of the ancient city discovered and partly restored, is located in the outskirts of today’s Yerevan, on the Arin Berd hill. It used to be a strategically important place as all the city territories were well seen from there. It meant the military could disrupt the enemy attack at any moment. Nowadays the place is also of great importance; it is the heart of the ancient Armenian capital.

The ruins of Erebuni interest archeologists as well as guests of the city. You can see 4 meters walls of the citadel which used to be higher than 12-15 meters at the time of the city prosperity. There are also some parts of the king’s Argishti I palace, that used to fascinate the contemporaries with its size and gorgeous furnishings. The main temple, Susi, in the columned hall of which not only services were held, but also holidays and ceremonial receptions of notable persons, was also magnificent.

A walk among the ancient ruins will allow you to get to know the Armenian history much better. Just go down the hill and enter the museum located at the foot of the fortress. It hosts a lot of archeological artifacts and treasures found in that territory during excavations, including dishes, jewelry, mosaic frescos, pieces of columns. The exhibit items demonstrate how powerful and developed ancient Armenia was.

Visiting the Erebuni fortress can be compared to time travel, step-by-step unrevealing secrets of the country with a great past.