History of Gyumri

aucasus region. In 1829, in the aftermath of the Russo-Turkish War there was a big influx of Armenian population as about 3000 families, who had migrated from territories within the Ottoman Empire, in particular from the towns of Kars, Erzurum, and Doğubeyazıt, settled in and around Gyumri. The Russian poet Alexander Pushkin visited Gyumri during his journey to Erzurum in 1829.

In 1837 Russian Tsar Nicholas I arrived in Gyumri and renamed the town Alexandropol. The name was chosen in honour of Tsar Nicholas I's wife, Princess Charlotte of Prussia, who had changed her name to Alexandra Fyodorovna after converting to Orthodox Christianity.

A major Russian fortress was built on the site in 1837. Alexandropol became a town in 1840 and experienced rapid growth during its first decade. The town was an important outpost for the Imperial Russian armed forces in the Transcaucasus where their military barracks were established (e.g. at Poligons, Severski, Kazachi Post).

During the brief independence between 1918-1920, the town kept its