Ijevan

Coordinates: 40°52′32″N 45°08′57″E / 40.87556°N 45.14917°E / 40.87556; 45.14917 Ijevan (Armenian: Իջևան), is a town in Armenia and the administrative centre of the Tavush Province. It is located in the center of the region, at the foot of Ijevan and Nalteket ridges of Gugark mountains, on the shores of Aghstev River. As of the 2011 census, the population of the town is 21,081, making it the most populated town in the province.

Ijevan is located 137 km northeast of Yerevan. The Yerevan-Tbilisi highway passes through Ijevan. the town has a railway station since 1870.

The town's current name Ijevan, and its former name Karavansara (until 1919), both mean "inn" (caravanserai), in Armenian and Persian, respectively.

Etymology

The area of modern-day Ijevan used to have many roadside inns known as caravanserais that served travelers between historic Syria and North Caucasus. The settlement became to be known as Istibulagh by the Persians, literally meaning hot spring. On the same site, the small village of Karavansara was founded in the 1780s during the Persian rule. However, during the days of the First Republic of Armenia in 1919, the settlement was renamed Ijevan, meaning inn or caravanserai in the Armenian language.։