Shirak is one of the provinces (marz) of Armenia. It is in the north-west of the country, bordering Turkey and Georgia. Its capital is Gyumri. Gyumri (Armenian: Գյումրի) is the capital and largest city of the Shirak province in northwest Armenia. It is located about 75 miles (120 km) from the capital Yerevan, and, with a population of 150,917 (2001 census), is the second-largest city in the country. The name of the city has been changed many times in history. It was first known as Kumayri or Gyumri, then Alexandropol (1840-1924), then Leninakan (1924-1990), then again as Gyumri. Gyumri is also known as Гюмри in Russian, گیومری in Farsi, and Gümrü in Turkish. It is rendered as Gjumri in German. Gyumri is twinned with Plovdiv, Bulgaria.

History

 General city view of modern GyumriThe first settlement at the location occupied by the modern city of Gyumri is believed to have been founded some time in the 5th century BC, perhaps ca. 401 BC, by Greek colonists [1]. An alternative theory suggests that the city was founded by Cimmerians, based on the fact that Cimmerians conquered the region in 720 BC and that the original name of the city was Kumayri [2]. The settlement existed sporadically during the next two millennia until a major Russian fortress was built on its site in 1837.

In 1840, the town that was quickly growing around the fortress was named Alexandropol (sometimes transliterated as Aleksandropol). The name was chosen in honor of Emperor Nicholas I's wife, Princess Charlotte of Prussia, who had changed her name to Alexandra Fyodorovna after converting to Orthodox Christianity. The town was an important post for the Imperial Russian military in the Transcaucasus, where their military barracks were established.

At the time, Alexandropol was considered more important than Yerevan, which was then viewed as an insignificant village. During the Russian-Turkish War, Armenians from cities such as Kars, Erzurum, and other territories of what was then the Ottoman Empire, immigrated to Alexandropol, where the Russians had established a fortress. Yerevan would not rise to prominence until being proclaimed the capital of the independent Republic of Armenia in 1918 and Armenian SSR in 1920.

In 1924 the name was changed to Leninakan after the deceased Soviet leader Vladimir Lenin. It was a major industrial center for the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic, and its second largest city, after Yerevan, the capital. The city suffered major damage in the 1988 Spitak Earthquake, which devastated large parts of the country. The current name of the city was chosen in 1990 at the time of the Soviet breakup. Today, it remains the second largest city in the Republic of Armenia.

Religious Buildings and constructions

Church of the Holy Saviour before 1988There are five churches, one convent, and one Russian chapel in Gyumri. One of the most important and historical churches is the Church of the Holy Saviour of All (Sourb Amenaprkich). Construction on the church began in 1859 and was completed in 1873. It was greatly damaged by the Spitak Earthquake of 1988 and is currently being reconstructed.

Known as the homeland of khash.