Arapi
Old village by the Akhurian near Gyumri

What is this place

Arapi is a village in Shirak Province on the western edge of Gyumri, sitting at about 1,500 metres near the Akhurian River. Around 1,800 people live here, and the area around the village keeps traces of a very ancient past.

Arapi lies on the Shirak plateau just a few kilometres west of Gyumri, the provincial capital. It is a typical highland village of this region: open fields, a big sky and a sharp continental climate at fifteen hundred metres. Until 1946 the village was called Ojakhghuli, and only then took its present Armenian name, Arapi.

The surroundings of Arapi hold the memory of people who lived here long before our time. On the northern side of the village there is a spot revered as a shrine of the Holy Mother of God; to the southwest one finds remains of cyclopean stonework and mammoth bones, and about a kilometre to the south lies a cemetery from the Hellenistic period. These scattered finds together draw a long, unbroken line of settlement on the banks of the Akhurian.

Today Arapi is interesting above all as a quiet point beside Gyumri: it is an easy base for visiting the city and its churches, while the nearby Akhurian River and an old bridge give walks around the village a calm, unhurried feel. This is a place for travellers who want to see everyday life in a Shirak village, away from the tourist bustle.