{{Short description|Street in Yerevan, Armenia}} {{Infobox street | name = Abovyan Street | native_name ={{native name|hy|Աբովյան փողոց}} | marker_image = | image = Abovyan Kh. (1).JPG | caption = The statue of Khachatur Abovian at the northern entrance to the street | former_names = Astafyan Street (1868-1920) | postal_code = | addresses = | length_m = | length_ft = | length_mi = | length_km = 1.8 | length_ref = | width = | location = Kentron District <br>Yerevan, Armenia | inauguration_date = 1863 }}

thumb|Abovyan Street in winter

'''Abovyan Street''' ({{langx|hy|Աբովյան փողոց}}), is a street at the central Kentron district of the Armenian capital Yerevan.<ref>{{cite book|last= Avagyan|first= Sergey|title= Երևանի փողոցները|trans-title= Streets of Yerevan|location= Yerevan|publisher= VMV-PRINT|page= 272|language= hy|year= 2010}}</ref> It was known as '''Astafyan Street''' between 1868 and 1920.<ref name= Manuch>{{cite journal|last= Manucharyan|first= N.|year= 2015|title= The Reflection of Communist Ideology in the Street Renaming Policy in Soviet Yerevan (1921-1939)|journal= Analytical Bulletin|volume= 8|page= 131|publisher= Center for Culture and Civilization Studies: Yerevan State University|url= https://analytical-bulletin.cccs.am/index.php/ab/article/view/141|issn= 1829-4502}}</ref>

The street runs from the central Republic Square to the statue of prominent Armenian writer Khachatur Abovian (1809&ndash;1848), who the street is named after. Abovyan Street is the first planned street of the Armenian capital.<ref name= hin>{{cite book|last= Yervand|first= Shahaziz|title= Հին Երևանի|trans-title= Old Yerevan|year= 2003| publisher= Mughni|isbn= 99941-33-01-2|page= 180}}</ref>

Located at downtown Yerevan, Abovyan Street is mainly home to cultural and educational institutions, luxurious residential buildings, elite brand shops, commercial offices, coffee shops, hotels, restaurants and night clubs. It is one of the main streets of Yerevan.<ref>{{cite book|last= Oganesi︠a︡n|first= Gevorg|title= Armenia|location= USSR|publisher= Novosti Press Agency Publishing House|year= 1987|page= 34|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=7C5OAAAAMAAJ&q=abovyan+street+yerevan}}</ref>

==History== thumb|Hotel London in 1891 In 1855, the Russian viceroy of Caucasus confirmed the planning of Yerevan streets. The average width of the streets was planned to be from 6 to 20 meters. Astafayan Street was planned to be 20 meters wide. Astafyan was the first street in Yerevan that was built according to a certain plan. It was opened in 1863 and was named Astafyan after Mikhail Astafyev, the governor of the Erivan Governorate from 1860 to 1862.<ref name="Avetisyan">{{in lang|hy}} Avetisyan, Kamsar. [http://armenianhouse.org/avetisyan/yerevan-1.html Աբովյան փողոցի պատմությունը ''(The History of Abovyan Street)''], Sovetakan Grogh publishing house, Yerevan, Armenian SSR, 1979.</ref>

[[File:Triumphal archs on Abovyan street 001.jpg|thumb|Triumphal arches, First Republic of Armenia]]

The street was officially called Astafyevskaya ({{langx|ru|Астафьевская улица}}), but the residents of Yerevan called it in their way – changing the suffix "-yevskaya" to "-yan". That was the main reason why it was known as Astafyan ({{langx|hy|Աստաֆյան փողոց}}), not Astafyevskaya. In 1904, the horsecar system began to be constructed on Abovyan Street and was completed in 1906. It only operated 12 years, until 1918. The first tram in Yerevan passed on Abovyan Street in 1933.<ref name="Avetisyan"/> In 1920, at the start of the Soviet era, the street was renamed Abovyan street in honor of the father of modern Armenian literature.<ref name= agbu>{{cite magazine|last= Sookiasian |first= Paul Vartan|title= Storied Streets: A survey of Armenian culture through Yerevan's eponymous streets|series= The Lebanese Armenians|location= New York|year= 2021|oclc= 664384384|url= https://agbu.org/lebanese-armenians/storied-streets|publisher= Armenian General Benevolent Union|magazine= AGBU magazine}}</ref><ref name= Manuch/> Numerous historical buildings stand on Abovyan street which quickly became well known in the city as the residence of famous people, celebrities, and politicians of Yerevan.<ref name= crc>{{cite book|last= Vardanyan|first= E.G.|title= Reconstruction and Restoration of Architectural Heritage 2021|year= 2021|chapter= Sustainable aspects of facadism practice in Yerevan|pages= 133–138|editor1= Alexander Leontyev|editor2= Huerta Santiago|editor3= Sergey Sementsov|location= London|publisher= CRC Press|isbn= 9781000504002|doi= 10.1201/9781003136804-27|chapter-url= https://books.google.com/books?id=6U82EAAAQBAJ&pg=PT281}}</ref>

==Notable buildings== The street features prominent tsarist era mansions and art deco buildings from Yerevan's "Belle Epoque."<ref name= agbu/>

*Arno Babajanyan concert hall, *Grand Hotel Yerevan, *The Alexander, a Luxury Collection Hotel<ref name= crc/> *Ibis Yerevan Center, *Artists' Union of Armenia, *Moscow Cinema, *Stanislavski Russian Theatre of Yerevan, *The churches of Katoghike and Surp Anna, *Yerevan State Medical University,

==Gallery== <gallery mode="packed" heights="200"> File:St peter paul yerevan 1930.png|Saint Paul and Peter Church stood on the street until 1933 when it was destroyed File:Surp Anna Yerevan 2014 (3).jpg|The churches of Katoghike and Surp Anna File:2014 Erywań, Ulica Abowiana 1 (01).jpg|19th-century building on Abovyan street File:The Abovyan street at night in Yerevan, Armenia 2025 01.jpg|Abovyan street at night File:The Abovyan street in Yerevan, Armenia 2025.jpg|A 19th-century building File:Old building of Yerevan State University2.jpg|The 19th-century building of the YSU on 52 Abovyan, home to the Faculty of Theology, Faculty of History and Faculty of Economics and Management File:Yerevan, Abovyan st. 2, Arakan gimnazia, 1916 - panoramio.jpg|Arno Babajanian concerts hall at Abovyan Street File:The Alexander Hotel Yerevan (4).jpg|The Alexander, a Luxury Collection Hotel </gallery>

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== {{Commons category}} *[https://avproduction.am/?ln=am&page=culture&id=144 History of Abovyan Street]

{{Yerevan landmarks}}

Category:Roads in Armenia Category:Streets in Yerevan