While most tourists visit the National Gallery of Armenia not only because it is the national gallery, but also because it is right in the center of the city, I believe few know and have noticed that there is a treasure behind the gallery’s building as well. Once you go to the back of the national gallery, and walk to the middle of the street, you will notice the door in the picture which is the entrance to two separate galleries located next to each other. One is State Museum of Literature and Art, the second is the Near East Museum. Both are worth a visit.

I will concentrate on the Near East Museum. It is the private collection of the artist Marcos Grigorian. The bulk of the items here are Iranian artifacts and art, Persian tiles, door knockers, faucets, pre-Islamic art… But some other works can be found too, such as the prehistoric Armenian artifacts and the Russian and European art and objects, sewing machines and gramophones. Some works of the artist Grigorian can be found here too. While you can walk through this exhibition hall in 20-30 minutes, it is worth spending some more time here and reading some of the descriptions, which will give you a better idea of the regional history.