page_title: Artik
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Artik / History
caption_attribution_description: Հայերեն: Լմբատավանք This is a photo of a monument in Armenia identified by the ID 8.2/5.1
context_page_description: 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.
  Artik is famous for its tufa stones, mainly the pink and rosy colored tufa. It is the main centre of tufa and travertine production in Armenia.
context_section_description: According to archaeological excavations conducted during 1960 in the territory of modern-day Artik, it was revealed that the area has been settled since the 14th century BC. Cemeteries dating back to the Late Bronze Age were found under the layers of tufa limestone in Artik.
  Historically, Artik has been part of the Shirak canton of the ancient Ayrarat province of Greater Armenia. During the reign of the Arsacid dynasty (52-428 AD) and later under Sasanid Persia (428-651), the area of Artik was ruled by the Kamsarakan Armenian noble family. As a settlement, Artik was most probably formed by the Kamsarakans during the 5th century, with the foundation of the monastic complex of the Holy Mother of God (also known as Surp Marine). They also built the Saint Stephen Church of Lmbat Monastery and Saint Gregory Church (also known as Saint George) during the 7th century.
  With the Arab invasion of Armenia in 654, Artik was granted to the Bagratid dynasty, who founded the Bagratid Kingdom of Armenia later in 885. After the fall of Armenia to the Byzantine Empire in 1045 and later to the Seljuk invaders in 1064, the entire region of Shirak entered an era of downfall in all social, educational and cultural aspects.
  With the establishment of the Zakarid Principality of Armenia in 1201 under the Georgian protectorate, the region of Shirak, entered into a new period of growth and stability. After the Mongols captured Ani in 1236, Zakarid Armenia turned into a Mongol protectorate as part of the Ilkhanate. After the fall of the Ilkhanate in the mid-14th century, the Zakarid princes controlled over Shirak until 1360 when they fell to the invading Turkic tribes.
  By the last quarter of the 14th century, the Aq Qoyunlu Sunni Oghuz Turkic tribe took over Armenia, including Shirak. In 1400, Timur invaded Armenia and Georgia, and captured more than 60,000 of the survived local people as slaves. Many districts including Shirak were depopulated. In 1410, Armenia fell under the control of the Kara Koyunlu Shia Oghuz Turkic tribe. According to the Armenian historian Thomas of Metsoph, although the Kara Koyunlu levied heavy taxes against the Armenians, the early years of their rule were relatively peaceful and some reconstruction of towns took place.
  In 1501, most of the Eastern Armenian territories including Yerevan and Shirak were conquered by the emerging Safavid dynasty of Iran. Under the Iranian rule, Artik has gradually declined as an urban centre, within the Erivan Governorate.
  In June 1804, the Russian Empire took control of the region of Shirak at the beginning of the Russo-Persian War of 1804–1813. Artik became officially part of the Russian Empire at the Treaty of Gulistan signed on 1 January 1813. Many Armenian families from Kars and Karin were resettled in Artik in 1829-30. In 1840, Artik became part of the newly-formed Alexandropol Uyezd, which -in its turn- became part of the Erivan Governorate later in 1849.
  After World War I, Artik was included within the borders of the newly-founded Republic of Armenia, who enjoyed a short-lived independence from May 1918 until December 1920, when it fell to the invading Soviet Red Army.
  The Soviets opened the first tufa production combine in Artik known as "Artik-Tuf" in 1928. In 1930, the Artik raion of Soviet Armenia was formed with the village of Artik became its regional centre. In 1939, Artik became an urban-type settlement. Soon after in 1945, it was given the status of a town. The first major urban plan of Artik was adopted in 1948 (later revised by architect A. Mirijanyan in 1965). With the gradual development of the town as an industrial hub, Artik has become a city of republican subordination within the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1963.
  Between 1959 and 1965, the town witnessed a swift economic growth with the foundation of the Artik Factory for Vacuum Stoves, the Tufa-Blocks Factory and the Artik branch of "Arshaluys" textile factory. Many other industrial firms were also opened during the 1970s.
  Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, Artik became a town within t
caption: Lmbat Monastery, 7th century
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