Gyumri Travel Guide

Gyumri is Armenia's second-largest city, a historic old town on the Shirak plateau (about 1,550 m); cool and good for walks in summer Jun–Sep, with severe cold on the high plateau in winter. The city preserves the 19th-century (formerly Alexandropol) Kumayri historic district built of black, dark-grey and reddish-brown tuff, with plain, weighty dark stone and wooden balconies; at its heart is Vardanants Square with two black-and-red stone cathedrals. Known for strong crafts, art and the humour and resilience of its people, it also bears the heavy memory of the 1988 Spitak earthquake and the stubborn rebuilding. About 2 hours from Yerevan.