This is the only case when I recommend the tourists visiting Armenia see a typical urban shopping center. To my great joy, here we don’t only have internationally recognized brands such as Mango, Zara, Stradivarius, Berjka, Aldo, etc, but also a unique archaeological site uncovered during the construction of the shopping center. So, don’t miss your chance to discover a 2600-year-old monument in the basement of a contemporary shopping mall.
This ancient sepulcher is open to the public. Ask the information center girls on the first floor of the mall about how to get there and they will give you all the directions. Don’t be surprised by the interior design of the mall, which is highlighted with cuneiform inscriptions and showcases with unknown statuettes. This kind of decoration is related with the tomb in the basement. I don’t mean that these decorations have a funeral meaning, they are just written in Urartian cuneiform and represent goddesses from their pantheon.
It is worth mentioning that the burial jars inserted inside the tomb niches are replicas; if you want to see the real Urartian artifacts, visit Erebuni museum, which is based on the items excavated in the ancient citadel of Yerevan. There you can learn who were the Urartians: this article is too short to tell you all about that.
