page_title: Abovyan
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Abovyan / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Abovyan town centre, Yerevan.
context_page_description: Abovyan or Abovian, is a town and urban municipal community in Armenia within the Kotayk Province. It is located 16 kilometres northeast of Yerevan and 32 kilometres southeast of the province centre Hrazdan. As of the 2011 census, the population of the town is 43,495, down from 59,000 reported at the 1989 census. Currently, the town has an approximate population of 35,400 as per the 2016 official estimate.
  With a motorway and railway running through the city connecting Yerevan with the areas of the northeast, Abovyan is considered a satellite city of the Armenian capital. Therefore, Abovyan is generally known as the "northern gate of Yerevan".
  Abovyan covers an area of around 11 square kilometres.
context_section_description: During the excavations of 1960 led by historian Mesrop Smbatiants, the remains of a 2nd-mellennium BC Cyclopean fortress, an ancient cemetery and old shelters with several objects that represent the 3 stages of the Bronze Age were found in the area of Abovyan.
  Smbatiants also found an 8th-century BC Urartian cuneiform left by King Argishti I, referring to the conquest of the "land of Darani" (the pre-Urartian name of modern-day Abovyan area).
  The excavations led by Smbatiants revealed that the area of modern-day Abovyan was inhabited starting from the end of the 4th century BC.
  During the ancient Kingdom of Armenia, the western area of modern-day Abovyan was part of the "Kotayk" canton of Ayrarat province while the eastern area was part of "Mazaz" canton of the same province.
  Between the 5th and 7th centuries AD, the region was granted to the Amatuni Armenian noble dynasty.
  After the Seljuk invasion of Armenia, the area became to be known as Elar. According to the Armenian historian Stepanos Orbelian of the 13th century, Elar became part of the Kingdom of Georgian. Later, the region of Elar was granted to prince Liparit Orbeli by prince Ivane Mkhargrdzeli.
  By the beginning of the 16th century, Eastern Armenia fell under the Persian rule, and Elar became part of the Erivan Beglarbegi and later of the Erivan Khanate. After the Russian conquest of Armenia in 1828, Elar became part of the Armenian Oblast and subsequently of the Erivan Governorate formed in 1850.
  The small village of Elar (currently part of Abovyan) remained the largest settlement in the area until 1961, when it was renamed Abovyan in honour of the Armenian writer Khachatur Abovian. 2 years later in 1963, the town of Abovyan was founded by the decision of the Soviet government, including the village of Elar and the surrounding areas.
  The modern town was built in 1962–1963 on a plateau located between Hrazdan and Azat rivers. It has rapidly developed as an industrial centre within the Armenian SSR. The town was planned to include 8 residential neighbourhoods (locally known as micro-districts), and an industrial district.
caption: Sipan hotel and the Abovyan town hall
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