Gyumri

Coordinates: 40°47′22″N 43°50′51″E / 40.78944°N 43.84750°E / 40.78944; 43.84750 Gyumri (Eastern Armenian: Գյումրի; Western Armenian: Կիւմրի), is the second largest city in Armenia and the capital of the Shirak Province in the northwestern part of the country. It is around 126 km north of the capital Yerevan. As of the 2011 census, the city had a population of 121,976, down from 150,917 reported at the 2001 census. Its name has been changed several times. It was originally founded as Kumayri, later re-founded as Alexandropol (Russian: Александрополь; Armenian: Ալեքսանդրապոլ) between 1837 and 1924 during the Russian rule, then Leninakan (Armenian: Լենինական; Russian: Ленинакан) between 1924–90, then as Gyumri.

History

Classical antiquity and the ancient Armenian Kingdom

Archaeological excavations conducted throughout the Soviet period have shown that the area of modern-day Gyumri has been populated since at least the third millennium BC. The area was mentioned as Kumayri in the historic Urartian inscriptions dating back to the 8th century BC. In 720 BC, the Cimmerians conquered the region and probably founded the Kumayri settlement, which bears phonetic resemblance to the word used by ancient Armenian in reference to Cimmerians. Historians believe that Xenophon passed through Kumayri during his return to the Black Sea, a journey immortalized in his Anabasis.