Vahagn from Yerevan

About me I am currently working on long-term tourism development projects, mainly as a trail development specialist and ecotourism expert. I've worked on creation of hiking and mountain biking trails in a number of Protected Areas in Armenia. Currently, I am working on transboundary tourism packages and tourism management in protected areas. I am also involved with the Transcaucasian Trail i...

Feb 3, 2025

Yerevan's Masonic Symbol Yerevan

My mysterious discovery

"I discovered "Yerevan's Masonic Symbol" a few years ago on one of the buildings from the '50s on the central square. How it got there's still a mystery..."

I don't remember when I first noticed that 3X2m bas-relief of the symbol of Freemasonry on one of the Armenian Government buildings on Yerevan's central square. This bas-relief is hard to notice because it's pretty high, crafted on the frieze above the big arch, but once noticed it will become one of your best POIs in Yerevan, because it is extremely outstanding and a must-see piece of architecture, especially after finding out that nobody knows why anybody would create it on such a visible place in the mid '50s, when the whole USSR was openly speaking and acting against the West and all philosophical-cultural concepts representing it in some way.

You can see this sign in New York, Washington DC, London, Edinburgh, Alexandria etc, places with some Masonic history, and you can easily find out information about each sign and the story how it appeared there. But after I gave a spontaneous interview about this to a video-blogger, the info went viral and some journalists & independent researchers tried to find out how on Earth the Masonic symbol appeared there, yet, even in the resulting 1-hour-long video program, there's been no comprehensive answer to that very logical question.

Later, when I was guiding a Dutch couple during their hike in the mountains once, I got to know that the husband was a Master Freemason for a few years already, and he knew that they have a branch office in that building, the window of which is not far from the bas-relief.

Art & culture

About this spot

Republic Square, Amiryan Street.

AMD

free

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