Aparan (
ArmenianThe Armenian language is an Indo-European language spoken by the Armenian people. It is the official language of the Republic of Armenia as well as in the region of Nagorno-Karabakh. The language is also widely spoken by Armenian communities in the Armenian diaspora...
: , also known as
Abaran; until 1935,
Bash Aparan; formerly,
Aparanbol,
Aparan Verin,
Aparanpol,
Abaran Verin,
P’araznavert,
K’asakh,
Kasagh, and
K’asagh) is a town in
ArmeniaArmenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...
, located in the
AragatsotnAragatsotn is a province of Armenia. It is in the west of the country, and its capital is Ashtarak. The name means "a foot of Aragats" . During the Arsacid Dynasty of the Kingdom of Armenia, the region was part of the Ayrarat province...
province, about 50 kilometers north-north-west of
YerevanYerevan is the capital and largest city of Armenia and one of the world's oldest continuously-inhabited cities. It is situated on the Hrazdan River, and is the administrative, cultural, and industrial center of the country...
. It has a mixed population of
ArmeniansThe Armenians are a nation and ethnic group which originated in the Caucasus and the Armenian Highland. It is estimated that there are 8 million Armenians around the world. There is a large concentration of Armenians in the Caucasus, especially in Armenia, and there is a significant presence in...
and Kurds, numbering 5,711 as of the 2001 census..
Aparan (
ArmenianThe Armenian language is an Indo-European language spoken by the Armenian people. It is the official language of the Republic of Armenia as well as in the region of Nagorno-Karabakh. The language is also widely spoken by Armenian communities in the Armenian diaspora...
: , also known as
Abaran; until 1935,
Bash Aparan; formerly,
Aparanbol,
Aparan Verin,
Aparanpol,
Abaran Verin,
P’araznavert,
K’asakh,
Kasagh, and
K’asagh) is a town in
ArmeniaArmenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...
, located in the
AragatsotnAragatsotn is a province of Armenia. It is in the west of the country, and its capital is Ashtarak. The name means "a foot of Aragats" . During the Arsacid Dynasty of the Kingdom of Armenia, the region was part of the Ayrarat province...
province, about 50 kilometers north-north-west of
YerevanYerevan is the capital and largest city of Armenia and one of the world's oldest continuously-inhabited cities. It is situated on the Hrazdan River, and is the administrative, cultural, and industrial center of the country...
. It has a mixed population of
ArmeniansThe Armenians are a nation and ethnic group which originated in the Caucasus and the Armenian Highland. It is estimated that there are 8 million Armenians around the world. There is a large concentration of Armenians in the Caucasus, especially in Armenia, and there is a significant presence in...
and Kurds, numbering 5,711 as of the 2001 census.. The city was called
Bash Aparan (Բաշ Ապարան; also Romanized as
Bash Abaran,
Pash Aparan, and
Dash Abaron) until 1935. The inhabitants of Aparan, are known as
Aparantsi (Ապարանցի).
Geography
Aparan is located on Armenia's main north-south road which connects the Armenian capital
YerevanYerevan is the capital and largest city of Armenia and one of the world's oldest continuously-inhabited cities. It is situated on the Hrazdan River, and is the administrative, cultural, and industrial center of the country...
with the second largest city,
VanadzorVanadzor is the third-largest city in Armenia with a population of 107,394 and the capital of the Lori Province...
, and to Georgia and its capital
TbilisiTbilisi is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Mt'k'vari River. The name is derived from an early Georgian form Tp'ilisi and it was officially known as Tiflis until 1936...
.
History
The city was the site of an important
Battle 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 Turkish divisions attacked on May 21, but after three days of fierce combat the Armenians remained firm and the Turkish regiments retreated in defeat...
against the
TurkishThe Ottoman Empire or Ottoman State , also known by its contemporaries as the Turkish Empire or Turkey , was an empire that lasted from 1299 to November 1, 1922 The Ottoman Empire or Ottoman State (Ottoman Turkish: دَوْلَتِ عَلِیَّهِ عُثْمَانِیَّه Dawlet-il ʿAliyyat-il ʿOs̠māniyye, Modern Turkish:...
army on May 21, 1918 during the
Turkish-Armenian WarThe Turkish–Armenian War was a conflict fought between the Democratic Republic of Armenia and Turkish Revolutionaries of the Turkish National Movement which lasted from 24 September to 2 December, 1920 and largely took place in present-day northeastern Turkey and northwestern Armenia.- Background...
, when the Turkish invasion of the newly independent
Democratic Republic of ArmeniaThe Democratic Republic of Armenia was the first modern establishment of an Armenian republic. The republic was established in the former territory of Eastern Armenia in the Russian Empire following the Russian Revolution of 1917...
was turned around. An impressive monument to the battle was erected just north of town. Aparan was listed by the geographer
PtolemyClaudius Ptolemaeus , known in English as Ptolemy , was a Roman citizen of Greek ancestry. He was a mathematician, astronomer, geographer, astrologer and a poet of a single epigram in the Greek Anthology. He lived in Egypt under the Roman Empire, and is believed to have been born in the town of...
in the 2nd century as
Kasagh.
Sites of Interest
- Monument to the Battle of Bash-Aparan
- Mausoleum of General Dro
General Drastamat Kanayan , was a politician, revolutionary, military commander of Hitler’s Armenian Legion of the Wehrmacht, the armed forces of Nazi Germany, and part of Armenian national liberation movement as a member of the A.R.F...
- 4th Century Holy Sign (Սուրբ Նշան) Basilica of Aparan