Rafayel Israyelian
Encyclopedia
Rafayel Israyelyan was an Armenian architect and designer based in Yerevan
, Armenia
. He is author of an immense architectural heritage of civil buildings, monuments and design works.
named after Ilya Repin which he had graduated excellently in 1934, with the title of artist-architect. In 1936 he successfully completed his courses of the Masters degree at the same institute. In the same year he moved to Yerevan and started working in Yerevan city's architectural design institutions.
Between 1941 and 1963, Israyelian ran a long teaching career in Yerevan Polytechnic Institute. He was a member of the Architectural Commission of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin between 1956 and 1970.
After the death of Rafayel Israyelyan, his son; architecture Areg Israyelyan took the responsibility to continue his father's career and complete his unfinished projects.
More than 150 residential, public and other types of complexes and buildings in Armenia and the USSR are fulfilled according to Israyelyan's design.
During and after World War II
, continuing the Armenian custom of commemorating the dead at springs, he built monuments in numerous towns and villages. He also revived the ancient Armenian tradition of the Khachkar
s.
Israyelyan was author of many residential buildings, monuments and complexes in Armenia and other countries.
His most famous works are the followings:
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...
, Armenia
Armenia
Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...
. He is author of an immense architectural heritage of civil buildings, monuments and design works.
Background and Education
Rafayel Israyelyan was born in 1908 in Tiflis. Between 1926-1928, he studied at the architectural faculty of the Academy of Arts in Tiflis, and then at the architectural faculty of the Institute of Communal Construction of LeningradLeningrad
Leningrad is the former name of Saint Petersburg, Russia.Leningrad may also refer to:- Places :* Leningrad Oblast, a federal subject of Russia, around Saint Petersburg* Leningrad, Tajikistan, capital of Muminobod district in Khatlon Province...
named after Ilya Repin which he had graduated excellently in 1934, with the title of artist-architect. In 1936 he successfully completed his courses of the Masters degree at the same institute. In the same year he moved to Yerevan and started working in Yerevan city's architectural design institutions.
Between 1941 and 1963, Israyelian ran a long teaching career in Yerevan Polytechnic Institute. He was a member of the Architectural Commission of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin between 1956 and 1970.
After the death of Rafayel Israyelyan, his son; architecture Areg Israyelyan took the responsibility to continue his father's career and complete his unfinished projects.
More than 150 residential, public and other types of complexes and buildings in Armenia and the USSR are fulfilled according to Israyelyan's design.
Works & Projects
Israyelyan designed massive constructions of natural stone combining neo-classicism with Armenian architectural traditions. One of his early works was the building of an intricate complex of wine cellars in 1937 for the Ararat Trust, Yerevan, its concise volumes blending organically with the rocky landscape.During and after World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, continuing the Armenian custom of commemorating the dead at springs, he built monuments in numerous towns and villages. He also revived the ancient Armenian tradition of the Khachkar
Khachkar
A khachkar or khatchkar is a carved, cross-bearing, memorial stele covered with rosettes and other botanical motifs. Khachkars are characteristic of Medieval Christian Armenian art found in Armenia.-Description:...
s.
Israyelyan was author of many residential buildings, monuments and complexes in Armenia and other countries.
His most famous works are the followings:
- Wine vaults of the Yerevan Ararat Wine FactoryYerevan Ararat Wine FactoryOfficially Yerevan Ararat Brandy-Wine-Vodka Factory, also known as "Noy" is a company owned by Gagik Tsarukyan's "Multi Group Concern"*. The factory is located on the left bank of Hrazdan river in the heart of Yerevan city, occupying the area of the historic great Yerevan Fortress.-History:Nerses...
(1937–1961) - The Military Museum (Victory Monument Museum) in Yerevan (1950–1967)
- The statue of "VahagnVahagnVahagn was a god worshiped anciently and historically in Armenia. Some time in his existence, he formed a "triad" with Aramazd and Anahit. Vahagn was identified with the Greek Heracles. The priests of Vahévahian temple, who claimed Vahagn as their own ancestor, placed a statue of the Greek hero...
Choking the Dragons" (Yerevan-Sevan highway 1962) - The KhachkarKhachkarA khachkar or khatchkar is a carved, cross-bearing, memorial stele covered with rosettes and other botanical motifs. Khachkars are characteristic of Medieval Christian Armenian art found in Armenia.-Description:...
-Monument in the memory of the Armenian GenocideArmenian GenocideThe Armenian Genocide—also known as the Armenian Holocaust, the Armenian Massacres and, by Armenians, as the Great Crime—refers to the deliberate and systematic destruction of the Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire during and just after World War I...
victims in Etchmiadzin Cathedral (1965) - The Sardarapat MemorialSardarapat MemorialSardarapat Memorial is a memorial complex to the Battle of Sardarapat located in the village of Araks, in the Armavir Province of Armenia, 11 kilometers southwest of Armavir town...
of the 1918 Battle of SardarapatBattle of SardarapatThe Battle of Sardarabad or Battle of Sardarapat was a battle of the Caucasus Campaign of World War I that took place near Sardarabad , Armenia from May 21-29, 1918...
(1968) - The HaçinSaimbeyliSaimbeyli is a small city and a district in Adana Province, Turkey in what was known during the Middle Ages as Cilician Armenia. The city of Saimbeyli is in the Toros mountains, 157 km north of the city of Adana, by a difficult road...
battle memorial in the town of Nor HachnNor HachnNor Hachn is a town in Kotayk Province with a population of 10,300 inhabitants, founded in 1953 by Armenians from Haçin in Cilicia, nowadays Turkey. The town was built near the Arzni canyon.There is a diamond factory in Nor Hachn.-References:...
(1974) - The Mousa LerMusa DaghMusa Dagh was the site of resistance by the Armenians during the Armenian Genocide. The denizens of that region were violently expelled from their six villages by the Ottomans in 1915...
battle memorial in the town of Musaler (1976) - The reconstructed building of Saint Sargis Church, Yerevan (1976)
- The Ethnographic Museum in Sardarapat (1978)
- The Battle of Bash AbaranBattle of Bash AbaranThe 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...
monument in AparanAparanAparan is a town in Armenia, located in the Aragatsotn province, about 50 kilometers north-north-west of Yerevan...
(1979) - St. Vartan CathedralSt. Vartan CathedralSt. Vartan Cathedral in New York City is the first cathedral of the Armenian Apostolic Church to be constructed in North America. It is located in New York City on the corner of Second Avenue and Thirty-forth street and was built to resemble the St. Hripsime Church in Echmiadzin. St...
, New YorkNew YorkNew York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, USA (1968) - St. Forty Martyrs Armenian Church, Milano, ItalyItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
- St. Nerses Shnorhali Armenian church of MontevideoMontevideoMontevideo is the largest city, the capital, and the chief port of Uruguay. The settlement was established in 1726 by Bruno Mauricio de Zabala, as a strategic move amidst a Spanish-Portuguese dispute over the platine region, and as a counter to the Portuguese colony at Colonia del Sacramento...
, UruguayUruguayUruguay ,officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay,sometimes the Eastern Republic of Uruguay; ) is a country in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to some 3.5 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area...