Goris
Encyclopedia
Goris is a city in the Syunik
Marz
of Armenia. Located in the valley of river Goris (Vararak), it is about 240 km away from the Armenian capital Yerevan
and 70 km from the Syunik Marz center Kapan
. Goris forms an urban community (municipality). The National Statistical Service of the Republic of Armenia
(ARMSTAT) reported its population was 23,022 in 2010, down from 23,261 at the 2001 census. Goris is located in an alpine climate zone, the weather is characterized with mild snowy winters and hot summers. The average temperature in January is –1.3 C and +19 C in July. Annual precipitation level is 700 mm.
Goris is famous for the medieval cave-dwellings carved out of the soft rock in the southern part of town.
There is an airport in the town of Goris and it will be operating in 2016. It is being renovated by the Armenian government. Shinuyar Airport
will bring tourists to see Tatev
and other amazing tourist sights as well. New hotels and tourist areas are also going to be built with in the next 2 years.
in Armenia. Somehow the traditional methods have been preserved overall in this city, while everywhere else the Soviet blueprints seem to have overwhelmed historic designs.
There are different explanations of the name. It is supposed that the name comes from the Indo-European prelanguage words "gor"(rock), "es" (to be), i.e. Goris "Kyores" means a rocky place. There was a dwelling in the ancient times in the same area of the town. The humankind settled here since the Stone Age
. Goris was first mentioned in the history by the Urartian
period. King Rusa I (8th century B.C.) left a cuneiform, where he mentioned that among the 23 countries conquered by him, "Goristsa" country was one of them. The scientists suppose that it is the same Goris.
The old small town of Goris is famous for its thousands of dwellings carved into the rock. In 401 BC, during the retreat of the Ten Thousand (Anabasis), Xenophon
passed through Armenia, in his account of the expedition he mentions the Armenian troglodytes of Khndzoresk and Goris.
During the middle ages, the town-settlement was situated in the eastern part of the present Goris, on the left bank of Goris river. It was called old Goirs and coincided with one of the villages of Goru and Goraik mentioned by Stepanos Orbelyan (13th century).
The present spelling of the name was first mentioned in 1624, in a handwriting by Barsegh Yerets. In 17-18th centuries Melik Husenyans ruled Goris. In the beginning of the 19th century, on 13 October 1813 according to the "Gyulistan agreement", Goris fell under the domination of Emperial Russia. In the 1870s Goris became the center of Zangezour province within the Russian Empire
. In 1876, the new town of Goris was founded near the Old Goris with the initiative of the head of "Starastky province" and recommendation of Manuchar-Bek Melik Husenyan and the plan was designed by a German architect. At the end of the 19th century the economical and cultural life of the town was rather improved.
After the fall of the Democratic Republic of Armenia
in 1920, the 2nd Pan-Zangezurian congress held in Tatev
on 26 April 1921, announced the independence of the self-governing regions of Daralakyaz (Vayots Dzor), Zangezur, and Mountainous Artsakh, under the name of the Republic of Mountainous Armenia
(Lernahaystani Hanrapetutyun), with Goris as a capital city (de-facto).
house-museum, commemorating one of Armenia’s great prose writers, who died in prison in 1937, one of many who paid the price for "nationalist deviationism". There is a regional geological museum and a dramatic theatre as well.
Goris is an important educational centre in Syunik
. Nowadays, there are 7 secondary schools, 2 intermediate colleges, 7 kindergartens, 2 sports, 2 musical and 1 art schools. The Goris state University is operating in the town since 1967. Branches of State Engineering University of Armenia
and Yerevan State Institute of Theatre and Cinematography are operating as well in Goris.
Not far from Goris, at the beginning of the road to Khndzoresk there is an 18th century local Melik’s
house.
The Cathedral of Saint Gregory the Illuminator in Goris is the seat of the diocese of Syunik of the Armenian Apostolic Church
.
Goris is home to Zankezour football club and municipal football stadium.
With deep-rooted heritage, the home-made fruit vodkas are particularly good and famous in Goris.
Syunik
Syunik is the southernmost province of Armenia. It borders the Vayots Dzor marz to the north, Azerbaijan's Nakhchivan exclave to the west, Karabakh to the east, and Iran to the south. Its capital is Kapan. Other important cities and towns include Goris, Sisian, Meghri, Agarak, and Dastakert...
Marz
Marz
Marz may refer to:people* Ron Marz, comic book author* Richard Marz, Canadian politician* Marz , an American rapperother* Marz , the first order administrative division of Armenia...
of Armenia. Located in the valley of river Goris (Vararak), it is about 240 km away from 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...
and 70 km from the Syunik Marz center Kapan
Kapan
-Notable landmarks:*Vahanavank monastery*Baghaberd and Halidzor Fortresses.*Tatev Monastery - This monastery, situated northwest of Kapan was founded in the ninth century in the place of an ancient tabernacle well-known in ancient times...
. Goris forms an urban community (municipality). The National Statistical Service of the Republic of Armenia
National Statistical Service of the Republic of Armenia
National Statistical Service of Republic of Armenia is the national statistical agency of Armenia.The statistical institution started its main activity from January 7, 1922 and was called Statistical Department of Soviet Socialist Republic of Armenia...
(ARMSTAT) reported its population was 23,022 in 2010, down from 23,261 at the 2001 census. Goris is located in an alpine climate zone, the weather is characterized with mild snowy winters and hot summers. The average temperature in January is –1.3 C and +19 C in July. Annual precipitation level is 700 mm.
Goris is famous for the medieval cave-dwellings carved out of the soft rock in the southern part of town.
There is an airport in the town of Goris and it will be operating in 2016. It is being renovated by the Armenian government. Shinuyar Airport
Shinuyar Airport
Shinuyar Airport is located in Goris, Armenia. It has been closed since the collapse of the USSR in 1991. However, the Armenian government plans on reconstructing the airport and opening it to public and private service by 2016....
will bring tourists to see Tatev
Tatev
The Monastery of Tatev is a 9th century Armenian monastery located in the Tatev village in Syunik Province in southern Armenia. The term "Tatev" usually refers to the monastery. It stands on a plateau on the edge of the deep gorge of the Orotan River...
and other amazing tourist sights as well. New hotels and tourist areas are also going to be built with in the next 2 years.
History
Nestled in a bowl of green hills and mountains, with interesting formations and many previously inhabited caves in them, Goris has some of the nicest overall Armenian architectureArmenian architecture
Armenian architecture is an architectural style developed over the last 4,500 years of human habitation in the Armenian Highland and used principally by the Armenian people.- Common characteristics of Armenian architecture:...
in Armenia. Somehow the traditional methods have been preserved overall in this city, while everywhere else the Soviet blueprints seem to have overwhelmed historic designs.
There are different explanations of the name. It is supposed that the name comes from the Indo-European prelanguage words "gor"(rock), "es" (to be), i.e. Goris "Kyores" means a rocky place. There was a dwelling in the ancient times in the same area of the town. The humankind settled here since the Stone Age
Stone Age
The Stone Age is a broad prehistoric period, lasting about 2.5 million years , during which humans and their predecessor species in the genus Homo, as well as the earlier partly contemporary genera Australopithecus and Paranthropus, widely used exclusively stone as their hard material in the...
. Goris was first mentioned in the history by the Urartian
Urartu
Urartu , corresponding to Ararat or Kingdom of Van was an Iron Age kingdom centered around Lake Van in the Armenian Highland....
period. King Rusa I (8th century B.C.) left a cuneiform, where he mentioned that among the 23 countries conquered by him, "Goristsa" country was one of them. The scientists suppose that it is the same Goris.
The old small town of Goris is famous for its thousands of dwellings carved into the rock. In 401 BC, during the retreat of the Ten Thousand (Anabasis), Xenophon
Xenophon
Xenophon , son of Gryllus, of the deme Erchia of Athens, also known as Xenophon of Athens, was a Greek historian, soldier, mercenary, philosopher and a contemporary and admirer of Socrates...
passed through Armenia, in his account of the expedition he mentions the Armenian troglodytes of Khndzoresk and Goris.
During the middle ages, the town-settlement was situated in the eastern part of the present Goris, on the left bank of Goris river. It was called old Goirs and coincided with one of the villages of Goru and Goraik mentioned by Stepanos Orbelyan (13th century).
The present spelling of the name was first mentioned in 1624, in a handwriting by Barsegh Yerets. In 17-18th centuries Melik Husenyans ruled Goris. In the beginning of the 19th century, on 13 October 1813 according to the "Gyulistan agreement", Goris fell under the domination of Emperial Russia. In the 1870s Goris became the center of Zangezour province within the Russian Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
. In 1876, the new town of Goris was founded near the Old Goris with the initiative of the head of "Starastky province" and recommendation of Manuchar-Bek Melik Husenyan and the plan was designed by a German architect. At the end of the 19th century the economical and cultural life of the town was rather improved.
After the fall of the Democratic Republic of Armenia
Democratic Republic of Armenia
The Democratic Republic of Armenia was the first modern establishment of an Armenian state...
in 1920, the 2nd Pan-Zangezurian congress held in Tatev
Tatev
The Monastery of Tatev is a 9th century Armenian monastery located in the Tatev village in Syunik Province in southern Armenia. The term "Tatev" usually refers to the monastery. It stands on a plateau on the edge of the deep gorge of the Orotan River...
on 26 April 1921, announced the independence of the self-governing regions of Daralakyaz (Vayots Dzor), Zangezur, and Mountainous Artsakh, under the name of the Republic of Mountainous Armenia
Republic of Mountainous Armenia
The Republic of Mountainous Armenia was a short-lived and unrecognized state in the South Caucasus, roughly corresponding with the territory that is now the present-day Armenian provinces of Vayots Dzor and Syunik, and parts of the present-day Nagorno-Karabakh Republic.- Turkish–Armenian War :On...
(Lernahaystani Hanrapetutyun), with Goris as a capital city (de-facto).
Culture and education
Goris is home to the Axel BakuntsAxel Bakunts
Aksel Bakunts was an Armenian prose writer, film-writer, translator and public activist.-Biography:Aksel Bakunts was born in 1899 in Goris and educated at the Gevorkian Seminary in Echmiadzin. Always outspoken, his first publication, a satirical account of the mayor of Goris, earned him a stint...
house-museum, commemorating one of Armenia’s great prose writers, who died in prison in 1937, one of many who paid the price for "nationalist deviationism". There is a regional geological museum and a dramatic theatre as well.
Goris is an important educational centre in Syunik
Syunik
Syunik is the southernmost province of Armenia. It borders the Vayots Dzor marz to the north, Azerbaijan's Nakhchivan exclave to the west, Karabakh to the east, and Iran to the south. Its capital is Kapan. Other important cities and towns include Goris, Sisian, Meghri, Agarak, and Dastakert...
. Nowadays, there are 7 secondary schools, 2 intermediate colleges, 7 kindergartens, 2 sports, 2 musical and 1 art schools. The Goris state University is operating in the town since 1967. Branches of State Engineering University of Armenia
State Engineering University of Armenia
The State Engineering University of Armenia is a technical university located in Yerevan, Armenia. Established as the Yerevan Polytechnic Institute in 1933, it provides educational and research programs in various fields of technology and science related to engineering...
and Yerevan State Institute of Theatre and Cinematography are operating as well in Goris.
Not far from Goris, at the beginning of the road to Khndzoresk there is an 18th century local Melik’s
Melik
Мelik , from malik ) was a hereditary Armenian noble title, in various Eastern Armenian principalities known as melikdoms encompassing modern Yerevan, Kars, Nakhchivan, Sevan, Lori, Artsakh, Tabriz and Syunik starting from the Late Middle Ages until the end of the nineteenth century...
house.
The Cathedral of Saint Gregory the Illuminator in Goris is the seat of the diocese of Syunik of the Armenian Apostolic Church
Armenian Apostolic Church
The Armenian Apostolic Church is the world's oldest National Church, is part of Oriental Orthodoxy, and is one of the most ancient Christian communities. Armenia was the first country to adopt Christianity as its official religion in 301 AD, in establishing this church...
.
Goris is home to Zankezour football club and municipal football stadium.
With deep-rooted heritage, the home-made fruit vodkas are particularly good and famous in Goris.