Nubarashen
Yerevan's diaspora-built quarter

What is this place

Nubarashen is Yerevan's least populated administrative district, grown from a settlement built for genocide-survivor repatriates. It lies about seven kilometres southeast of the centre, at roughly 1141 metres above sea level.

Nubarashen's story began with a decision by the Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU): in 1926 the organisation set out to fund a settlement for Armenian families who had survived the genocide and were returning home from Europe and the Middle East. The district was named after the prominent diaspora figure Boghos Nubar — "Nubarashen" means "Nubar's town." Architect Alexander Tamanian drew up the master plan, and by the summer of 1931 around a hundred houses stood ready for the newcomers; the first to arrive were Armenians from Greece, followed by families from Bulgaria, France, Lebanon and Syria.

The settlement was officially founded in 1932. In 1938 it was renamed Sovetashen, and its historic name was only restored in 1989; Nubarashen became a separate administrative district of Yerevan in 1996. Today it is one of the capital's quietest and most secluded corners — compact, far from the busy centre, and still carrying the character of a former workers' settlement.

Travellers who venture out to Nubarashen find the unhurried life of Yerevan's edge. The district has a Central Park, the Ghevond Alishan School founded back in 1932, and the Holy Martyrs Church consecrated in 2015. Cool highland air and views over the southeastern hills round out the mood of a place that grew up as a monument to Armenian repatriation. The Nubarashen weather forecast on this page reflects its highland elevation.