Shengavit (), is one of the 12 districts of Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, located at the low southwestern part of the city. It has common borders with the Yerevan districts of Malatia-Sebastia, Kentron (Center), Erebuni and Nubarashen. Ararat Province forms the southern borders of the district.
"Shengavit" is the historical name of the ancient settlement area and is composed of shen (Armenian "շեն" meaning "prosperous") and gavit ("գավիթ" meaning "parish"; "courtyard-like space"; also "narthex" in Armenian church architecture). __TOC__
Overview Home to one of Armenia's most significant prehistoric sites - the ancient Shengavit settlement (an ancient town with fortress walls, metallurgy workshops, and complex religious systems - approximately 6000 years old), Shengavit can be called the "cradle of Yerevan" due to its deep historical roots.
Today with an area of 48.5 km2 (18.16% of Yerevan city area), Shengavit is the 2nd-largest district of Yerevan in terms of area. As of 2022, the population of the district is around 140,525.Statistical Committee of Armenia (2022 census data) https://armstat.am/file/doc/99486133.pdf
It is unofficially divided into smaller neighborhoods such as Lower Shengavit, Upper Shengavit, Lower Charbakh, Upper Charbakh, Noragavit, Nor Koghb, and Aeratsia.
While in Soviet times, due its industrial focus, the district primarily served as a residential area for the working-class, there has been significant new residential construction in Shengavit, and the district is increasingly being seen as a more affordable alternative to neighbouring Kentron (Center). It has good transport connections. The large-scale "New Downtown" project in NoragyughUrban planning concept for the reconstruction of the Noragyugh district․ RA Government's Resolution No. 567 of April 23, 2026. bordering Shengavit plans a direct road between Admiral Isakov Avenue and Arshakunyats Avenue.
History Antiquity
The area of modern-day Shengavit district has been populated since the Stone Age.
The axis of Shengavit history is the Shengavit archaeological site - one of the most prominent centers of the Kura–Araxes culture. Backed by modern scientific dating, the ancient town of Shengavit in Yerevan is roughly 6,000 years old. For over a thousand years, this settlement was bustling with life as it transitioned through three major prehistoric eras (from the 4th millennium BC - 35th century BC to the 2nd millennium BC - 20th century BC). Excavations show it grew from a late Stone Age village into a flourishing Copper-Stone Age (Chalcolithic) community utilizing both stone tools and early metalwork. It was a walled urban settlement with round and square dwellings, narrow streets, and an underground passage leading to the Hrazdan River.Սիմոնյան Հ. Ե., 2002. Շենգավթի շերտագրությունը, շինարարական և կառուցապատման սկզբունքները, «Հայաստանի հնագույն մշակույթը» At its peak between 3,000 BC and 2,500 BC, Shengavit fully entered the Early Bronze Age, transforming into a heavily fortified city and a massive regional center for advanced bronze metallurgy, weapon casting, and trade. This capital of the Kura-Araxes culture was eventually abandoned by the end of the Middle Bronze Age around 2,000 BC.Байбуртян Е. А., 2011 (1938), с. 21-37; Սարդարյան Ս., 1967. Նախնադարյան հասարակությունը Հայաստանում, «Միտք» հրատարակչություն, Երևան, էջ 164-167; Սիմոնյան Հակոբ, 2013. Շենգավիթ. շարքային բնակավայր, թե՞ վաղ քաղաք, «Հուշարձան» տարեգիրք, հատոր Ը, Երևան, էջ 5-53; Simonyan H., 2015. The Archaeological Site of Shengavit: An Ancient Town in the Armenian Higland. Fundamental Armenology № 1, p. 134-168; Simonyan Hakob and Rothman Mitchell S., 2015. Regarding Ritual Behaviour at Shengavit, Armenia. Ancient Near Eastern Studies, Volume: LII: Peeters, Louvain, p. 13Simonyan, Hakob Y. "Shengavit – An ordinary settlement ot an early city?" Armenian Ministry of Culture, Scientific Research Center of Historicaland Cultural Heritage “Hushardzan (Monument)” Annual No 8 (2013)Smith, A. T., Badalyan, R., & Avetisyan, P. (2018). A new chronological model for the Bronze and Iron Age South Caucasus: Radiocarbon results from Project Aragats, Armenia. Antiquity, 92(366); Rothman, M. S., & Simonyan, H. (2022). New data on the construction and meaning of the Shengavit settlement wall. Aramazd: Armenian Journal of Near Eastern Studies, 16(1-2), 221-245. Another ancient settlement in the area - the archaeological site of Karmir Blur dates back to the first half of the 7th century BC and is home to the historical forthress-city of Teishebaini built by King Rusa II of Urartu.
Archeological excavations Archaeologist Yevgeny Bayburdyan conducted excavations at the Shengavit historical site in 1936. Archaeologist Sandro Sardarian resumed the excavations between 1958 and 1983, but he left insufficient records to pinpoint exact locations where artifacts were found. In 2000, extensive excavation process was launched under the guidance of archaeologist Hakob Simonyan, who dug stratigraphic trenches at the edges of the old trenches excavated by Bayburdian and Sardarian.Սիմոնյան Հ., 2012. Հայաստանը և միջազգային առևտուրը վաղ բրոնզի դարում // «Հայաստանի քաղաքակրթական ավանդը մետաքսի ճանապարհի պատմության մեջ», միջազգային գիտաժողով, 21–23 նոյեմբերի 2011 թ., էջ 18-37:
Սիմոնյան Հ. Ե., 2012. Շենգավթի «Հրո տաճարը»: Միջազգային գիտաժողով` նվիրված ակադեմիկոս Հովսեփ Օրբելու ծննդյան 125-ամյակին: Զեկուցումների դրույթներ, Երևան, էջ 103-106:
Սիմոնյան Հ., 2008. Շենգավթի դամբարանադաշտը, «Հին Հայաստանի մշակույթը» – XIV, նյութեր հանրապետական գիտական նստաշրջանի, Երևան, էջ 81-93: In 2009, professor Simonyan was joined by professor Mitchell S. Rothman from Widener University of Pennsylvania. Together they conducted three series of excavations in 2009, 2010, and 2012 respectively. During the process, a full stratigraphic column to bedrock was reached, showing there to be 8 or 9 distinct stratigraphic levels. These levels cover a time between 3200 BC and 2500 BC. Evidences of later use of the site (until 2200 BC) were also found. The excavation process revealed a series of large buildings, round buildings with square adjoining rooms and simple round buildings. Particularly notable are a series of ritual installations discovered in 2010 and 2012.Simonyan, Hakob; and Rothman, Mitchell S., 2015. Regarding Ritual Behaviour at Shengavit, Armenia. Ancient Near Eastern Studies, Volume: LII: Peeters, Louvain, p. 13.
The present-day territory of Shengavit region was part of the Urartu/Van kingdom in the 9th–6th centuries BC (c. 860–590 BC). Later, it belonged to Greater Armenia, the Kotayk region of its Ayrarat province, first as part of the Orontid kingdom (6th–2nd centuries BC), then as part of the Artaxiad kingdom (189 BC – 1 AD) and the Arsacid kingdom (52–428 AD).
The Middle Ages In the Middle Ages, the area was part of the Bagratid Kingdom (885–1045). After its fall, the region briefly came under Byzantine influence (1045–1064), while local Armenian princely houses (particularly the Zakarid dynasty) continued to rule until the 13th–14th centuries (Zakarid principality), before the area came under the rule of the Seljuks (c. 11th–13th centuries), Mongols (13th–14th centuries), and Turkmens (14th–15th centuries). The Mongols and Turkmen, especially the armies of Timur the Great, completely destroyed the Ararat Valley, Yerevan, and its surrounding settlements, burning down thousands of years-old structures and villages. Timur's raids dealt a severe blow to the economy and demography of Yerevan and all of central Armenia.
This area remained populated, and after the adoption of Christianity (starting in the 4th century), churches were founded here. The combination of historical and archaeological data allows us to confidently assert that in the Middle Ages there was a well-established settlement in the Shengavit area with its religious structures. It is especially famous for the St. Sargis Church in Shengavit. In the 1213 inscription in the vestibule of the Kecharis monastery, Shengavit is mentioned as a property acquired by the Vachutian princes. One of the most important historical centers of the region is Noragavit,Ասատրյան Կ. Մի էջ Նորագավթի պատմությունից. 1968 // Asatryan K. A page from the history of Noragavt. 1968 an ancient village with more than 10 churches and its own writing school, connected to the Mother See. Here are preserved examples of medieval architecture, the most notable of which is the Church of Tsiranavor Saint Gevorg [Purple Saint George Church]: its foundations are attributed to the 4th-7th centuries (early Middle Ages), and it was later rebuilt in the 17th century following the devastating 1679 earthquake, which destroyed the infrastructure and religious sites in Noragavit and wider Aratat valley.
Early Modern Age In the 16th century, the territory, as part of Eastern Armenia, came under the rule of Persia, in particular the Safavid Empire (1501–1736) and the Ghajar Empire (1789–1827). Some parts of the territory belonged to the Armenian church, for example, in the 17th century a vineyard and a mill belonged to the Aghjots monastery complex, and another vineyard belonged to the Bjni monastery. In the 17th–18th centuries, Shengavit was included in the diocese of the Holy Savior Monastery of Havuts Tar. In the 18th–19th centuries, the territory formed part of the Yerevan Khanate (1747–1828) and was a suburb of Yerevan, with rich gardens and fertile lands and its St. Sarkis Church. Historical records (like local parish records and manuscripts from Etchmiadzin Cathedral or Yerevan's older churches) distinguish between Verin (Upper) Shengavit and Nerkin (Lower) Shengavit, which in 17th to 18th centuries were villages engaged in agriculture in the vicinity of Yerevan Fortress. The settlements were also listed as separate entities for tax collection and irrigation rights from the Hrazdan River. The village of Noragavit, according to the French botanist Joseph Pitton de Tournefort (who spent the night here on August 8, 1701, during his travels), had 100 houses and was famous for its gardens and fine wine. In the 19th century, after Eastern Armenia was annexed to the Russian Empire, Shengavit continued to be an agricultural area. The Chamber Census of 1829-1832 documented the two villages as small agricultural settlements engaged in gardening and horticulture.Шопен И. И., «Исторический памятник состояния Армянской области в эпоху её присоединения к Российской империи», СПб., 1852 // Chopin I. I., "Historical monument of the state of the Armenian region in the era of its annexation to the Russian Empire", SPb., 1852
Modern history In the 1920s in the area of Shengavit settlement the village of Nor Koghb specializing in agriculture emerged on the arable lands of the archaeological mound. The village was established and called Nor Koghb (New Koghb) by Armenians who fled the Ottoman Empire (Turkey) leaving behind the historical Armenian region and city of Koghb (today in Turkey and called Tuzluca).
Shengavit maintained agricultural activities until the 1920s when along with the expansion of Yerevan, it began to be gradually included in the city and was transformed into an urban industrial district. After the Sovietization of Armenia, the administrative area of Yerevan was gradually expanded to include the abandoned settlements of historic Shengavit absorbing Verin Shegavit and Nerkin Shengavit as well as Nor Koghb. In the 1960s the territory of Nor Koghb was submerged to construct Lake Yerevan. The remaining parts of Nor Koghb form the neighbourhood with the same name in today's Shengait district now in the Nerkin Charbakh area [they are often informally referred to as "Ghrer" (Armenian "Ղռեր" - derived from the root (ղռ-) "noise" - means “rough or rumbling place” and "dry lands", referring to the area’s arid terrain and industrial and railway noise. This colloquial toponym is used locally within the southern part of Shengavit].