Aparan is a town in Armenia

Armenia

Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...

, located in the Aragatsotn

Aragatsotn

Aragatsotn is a province of Armenia. It is in the west of the country, and its capital is Ashtarak. The name means "a foot of Aragats" . During the Arsacid Dynasty of the Kingdom of Armenia, the region was part of the Ayrarat province...

 province, about 50 kilometers north-north-west of Yerevan

Yerevan

Yerevan is the capital and largest city of Armenia and one of the world's oldest continuously-inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerevan is the administrative, cultural, and industrial center of the country...

. It has a mixed population of Armenians

Armenians

Armenian people or Armenians are a nation and ethnic group native to the Armenian Highland.The largest concentration is in Armenia having a nearly-homogeneous population with 97.9% or 3,145,354 being ethnic Armenian....

 and Kurds, numbering 5,711 as of the 2001 census.. The city was called Bash Aparan (Բաշ Ապարան; also Romanized as Bash Abaran, Pash Aparan, and Dash Abaron) until 1935. The inhabitants of Aparan, are known as Aparantsi (Ապարանցի).

Geography

Historically, Aparan is located in Nig

NIG

NIG is a three letter acronym that may also refer to:* Niger, a country in Africa* Nigger, a racial slur* Nigga, a slang term* Nig, Brady Langlois* Niglet a racial slur...

 canton of Ayrarat

Ayrarat

Ayrarat was a province of old Armenia . The main city was Oshakan. It is believed that the name Ayrarat is the Armenian equivalent of the toponym Urartu ....

 Province of the Kingdom of Great Armenia.
Aparan is located on Armenia's main north-south road which connects the Armenian capital Yerevan

Yerevan

Yerevan is the capital and largest city of Armenia and one of the world's oldest continuously-inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerevan is the administrative, cultural, and industrial center of the country...

 with the second largest city, Vanadzor

Vanadzor

-Industry:Vanadzor is dominated by large chemical plants which include: "Prometey-Khimprom", "Vanadzor Chemical Plant", "Vanadzor Khimprom" and "Vanadzor Chemical Fiber Plant". Another big enterprise is the "Vanadzor Thermal Power Plant....

, and to Georgia and its capital Tbilisi

Tbilisi

Tbilisi is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Mt'k'vari River. The name is derived from an early Georgian form T'pilisi and it was officially known as Tiflis until 1936...

.

History

The city was the site of an important Battle of Bash Abaran

Battle of Bash Abaran

The Battle of Bash Abaran was a battle of Caucasus Campaign of World War I that took place in the vicinity of Bash Abaran, in 1918. The Ottoman divisions attacked on May 21, but after three days of fierce combat the Armenians remained firm and the Ottoman regiments retreated in defeat.Armenian...

 against the Turkish

Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...

 army on May 21, 1918 during the Turkish-Armenian War

Turkish-Armenian War

The Turkish–Armenian War stemmed from an invasion of the Democratic Republic of Armenia by the Turkish Revolutionaries of the Turkish National Movement in the autumn of 1920...

, when the Turkish invasion of the newly independent Democratic Republic of Armenia

Democratic Republic of Armenia

The Democratic Republic of Armenia was the first modern establishment of an Armenian state...

 was turned around. An impressive monument to the battle was erected just north of town. Aparan was listed by the geographer Ptolemy

Ptolemy

Claudius Ptolemy , was a Roman citizen of Egypt who wrote in Greek. He was a mathematician, astronomer, geographer, astrologer, and poet of a single epigram in the Greek Anthology. He lived in Egypt under Roman rule, and is believed to have been born in the town of Ptolemais Hermiou in the...

 in the 2nd century as Kasagh.

The map of Canton Nig

NIG

NIG is a three letter acronym that may also refer to:* Niger, a country in Africa* Nigger, a racial slur* Nigga, a slang term* Nig, Brady Langlois* Niglet a racial slur...

 - Aparan in the Province Ayrarat

Ayrarat

Ayrarat was a province of old Armenia . The main city was Oshakan. It is believed that the name Ayrarat is the Armenian equivalent of the toponym Urartu ....

 - Ararat

Ararat

Ararat may refer to:*Ararat , a common first name for Armenian males *Ararat / Araratian, a common family name for Armenians -Armenian Highland:*Mount Ararat, a snow-capped, dormant volcanic cone in Turkey...

 of the Kingdom of Great Armenia.

http://www.bvahan.com/armenianway/Great_Armenia/Provinces_Arm/Airarat/Airarat.jpg

http://www.bvahan.com/armenianway/Great_Armenia/Provinces_Arm/Airarat/Airarat.jpg

Sites of Interest

• Monument to the Battle of Bash-Aparan
• Mausoleum of General Dro
  Drastamat Kanayan
  General Drastamat Kanayan , known as General Dro, Դրօ, May 31, 1884 March 8, 1956), was a politician, revolutionary, military commander of Hitler’s Armenian Legion of the Wehrmacht, the armed forces of Nazi Germany, and part of Armenian national liberation movement as a member of the A.R.F...
  
  
• 4th Century Surb Neshan (Սուրբ Նշան) Basilica of Aparan