The list of capitals
The traditional list presented by Yerevan Municipality counts twelve cities: Tushpa, Armavir, Yervandashat, Artashat, Tigranakert, Vagharshapat, Dvin, Bagaran, Shirakavan, Kars, Ani and Yerevan. This collection also covers Sis, capital of the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia, in its own historical setting. The thirteen city histories concern different states and centuries.
Armenia’s historical capitals did not form a single uninterrupted and unchanging administrative system. They belonged to different states, royal dynasties, and historical periods. Nevertheless, a line of continuity exists among them: each new center inherited the urban planning experience, traditions of governance, and cultural memory of earlier eras.
Geography and power
These changes show that in the ancient and medieval world, a capital was not merely the residence of the king. It was simultaneously a symbol of authority, a military stronghold, a center for the organization of taxation and trade, a place of diplomatic meetings, the seat of religious institutions, and a setting in which new cultural forms were born. When state borders or balances of power changed, the former center often no longer suited the new circumstances, and the need arose either to build a new capital or to transform an existing city into the center of the state.
It is no coincidence that most of ancient Armenia’s capitals were located in the Ararat Plain. Fertile lands, water resources, a dense network of settlements, and roads connecting the Armenian Highlands with neighboring countries converged here. However, when the borders of the Armenian state expanded toward the Mediterranean Sea or when the political center shifted to Shirak and Cilicia, the capital also moved away from the Ararat Plain. The geography of the capitals therefore also reflects the territorial transformations of Armenian statehood. Recent archaeological studies likewise confirm that, among Armenia’s six principal capitals from the fourth century BCE to the fourth century CE, five were located in the Ararat Plain.
Court, market and roads
The city’s economic rise was driven by its control over the routes passing through the Arax Valley. Merchants, artisans, and diplomatic delegations from different countries gathered there. Artashat became not only a royal residence but also a major marketplace, a center of monetary circulation, and an important environment for the spread of Hellenistic culture. The fortified hills, residential quarters, workshops, and public buildings of the city testify to an organized urban life.
Ani’s development was largely driven by control over one of the branches of the Silk Road. The city connected Byzantium, Iran, the Caucasus, Syria, and Central Asia. Different cultural and religious traditions met there, a fact reflected in the city’s architecture and crafts. UNESCO describes Ani as an exceptional complex of medieval urbanism in which different types of military, religious, public, and residential structures have been preserved.
In 1918, when the First Republic of Armenia was established under the conditions of severe wars, the Armenian Genocide, and mass displacement, Yerevan became the capital of the new state. The choice was determined above all by political reality: most earlier Armenian capitals were located outside the borders of the newly formed republic or had long since become ruins. Although Yerevan was a small city overcrowded with refugees, it possessed administrative structures, communication opportunities, and the necessary foundation for becoming the center of the state.
Sources and further reading
Երևանի քաղաքապետարան / Yerevan Municipality, «Հայաստանի մայրաքաղաքները» · Encyclopaedia Iranica, “Armenia and Iran” · UNESCO, Archaeological Site of Ani.