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Alaverdi

From Biocrawler, the free encyclopedia.

This article is about the town in Armenia. For the monastery in Georgia, see Alaverdi (monastery)

Alaverdi ("Ալավերդի" in Armenian) is a town situated in the northeast of the Armenian province of Lorri, not far from the border with Georgia. This mining and industrial town with approximately 20,000 inhabitants (various sources indicate different numbers between 10,000 and 30,000), situated at the bottom of the Debed river gorge, is one of the commercial centres of the district. Its name Alaverdi means Allah gave in Turkish.

At the end of the 18^th century when the area was annexed to the Russian Empire, the Argoutinski-Dolgruki family "imported" many miners from Greece to start exploiting the copper mines in the area. Soon, about a quarter of all Russian copper was mined in Alaverdi. At the end of the 19^th century, the concession to exploit the mine was sold to the French. During control by the Soviet Union through the 20^th century, the town acquired today's typical socialist industrial appearance. The mine and belonging metalurgical complex are now privatised and serve as a major employer for the town and its surroundings.

Alaverdi is situated at the only direct rail link between Armenia and Georgia, and one of the several important road connections between the two countries also passes through the town.

Except a medieval 12^th century bridge, the town is rather uninteresting to visitors, however many important cultural monuments are situated in the vicinity of the town, including the monasteries of Sanahin, Haghpat, Akhtala, Khorakert, Khuchap, Ardvi and a basilica in Odzun. Despite this, Alaverdi's tourist infrastructure is very poor.

"Alaverdi" as a phrase is widely used in the Caucasus as a toast. A reference to it can be found in Leo Tolstoy's story "The Cossacks".

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