Yerevan is built from pink. The volcanic tuff stone quarried from the mountains around the Ararat valley has a warm rose colour that deepens to terracotta at sunset and glows pale gold at dawn — and it is used for almost every building in the Armenian capital, from Soviet-era apartment blocks to the Tsarist-period Opera House to the grand ensemble of Republic Square. Rising above all of it is the staircase of the Cascade, a monumental Soviet-era structure that climbs the hillside in terraced gardens, sculptures, and fountains, with Mount Ararat — snow-capped, magnificent, and heartbreakingly on the other side of the Turkish border — visible on every clear day.

About This Walking Tour

OBSERVER’s 4K 60fps walking tour of Yerevan follows the natural spine of the city’s most important route: from the Cascade monument stairway down through the streets to Republic Square. Shot at 60 frames per second, the footage has an unusually fluid, present-tense quality — the kind of clarity that makes you feel you are actually walking the pink tuff pavements rather than watching a recording of someone else doing so. The Cascade itself is one of Soviet architecture’s more unexpected gifts to a city: begun in 1971 and never fully completed to its original design, it functions as an open-air sculpture garden, with international contemporary art pieces placed on each terrace alongside the fountains and Cafesjian Museum spaces built inside the structure. The camera descends from the Cascade’s upper terrace with Mount Ararat visible beyond the city — a sight that Armenians describe with a particular weight, since Ararat has been in Turkish territory since 1921 yet remains the national symbol on the Armenian coat of arms. From the Cascade, the route passes through the Northern Avenue pedestrian boulevard, where the pink tuff stone architecture of post-Soviet Yerevan is at its most coherent and elegant, before reaching Republic Square. The square’s National History Museum and government buildings, all in matching tuff stone, frame one of the world’s great urban ensembles. The video ends as the square’s singing fountains would be preparing for their evening show — a Soviet tradition that Yerevan has preserved with evident affection.

Highlights of Yerevan

The Cascade complex is the walk’s starting point and most distinctive landmark. Its 572 steps and escalators rise up the hillside through open terraces, each decorated with sculpture from the Cafesjian collection — a gift from the Armenian-American philanthropist Gerard Cafesjian that includes works by Fernando Botero, whose bronze figures appear on the lower terraces with characteristic rotundity and humour. Inside the Cascade’s structure, the Cafesjian Center for the Arts contains galleries spread across multiple floors, accessible via escalator from inside the staircase. From the top, on clear days, Mount Ararat’s snow cone rises above the urban sprawl some 40 kilometres to the southwest.

Northern Avenue, the pedestrian boulevard connecting the Cascade area to Republic Square, was built in the 2000s on cleared Soviet-era housing and is sometimes criticised as too sanitised. But its pink tuff facades, outdoor cafes, and human scale make it one of the more pleasant urban walks in the South Caucasus. Republic Square itself — designed by Alexander Tamanian in the 1920s and completed in stages through the Soviet era — is a genuine architectural achievement: an oval ensemble of matching tuff stone buildings that frames the square with government ministries, the National History Museum, and the Marriott hotel, all in harmonious neoclassical style. The square’s singing fountain display runs in the evenings during summer and is a beloved local tradition. Further afield, the Matenadaran manuscript museum on Mashtots Avenue above the Cascade houses the world’s largest collection of ancient Armenian manuscripts, and the Vernissage weekend market below Republic Square offers Soviet memorabilia, Armenian carpets, and pomegranate products from the Ararat valley.

A Brief History of Yerevan

Yerevan’s foundation date of 782 BC makes it one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. It was founded as the Urartian fortress of Erebuni by king Argishti I, whose cuneiform inscription recording the founding was discovered at the archaeological site on the eastern edge of the modern city in 1950. The name Yerevan derives directly from Erebuni. The city passed through Persian, Macedonian, Parthian, Roman, Byzantine, Arab, Mongol, and Ottoman rule before becoming part of the Russian Empire in 1828, after which it was gradually modernised. Soviet-era architect Alexander Tamanian designed the modern city plan in the 1920s, centred on Republic Square and oriented to preserve views of Mount Ararat.

The Armenian Genocide of 1915 to 1923, in which Ottoman forces killed an estimated 1.5 million Armenians, is the defining trauma of modern Armenian identity. The Tsitsernakaberd memorial on the hill above Yerevan — a spiked concrete monument above an eternal flame, surrounded by a circle of stone slabs — is the nation’s primary place of mourning, visited on April 24 each year when Armenians worldwide mark Genocide Remembrance Day. Armenia has also been producing wine and brandy since at least 4100 BC — the world’s oldest known winery was discovered in an Armenian cave in the Vayots Dzor region in 2011, predating the next oldest by a thousand years.

Practical Tips

April through June and September through October offer the clearest views of Mount Ararat and the most pleasant walking temperatures in Yerevan — summer can be very hot and winter bitterly cold. The Cascade is accessible on foot from the city centre at any time; the Cafesjian galleries inside have standard museum hours and a modest entry fee. Republic Square’s singing fountain show runs on summer evenings and is free to watch — arrive by 9pm for the main show. Zvartnots International Airport is 12 kilometres from the city centre and served by taxis and shared minibuses. The Matenadaran and the Tsitsernakaberd genocide memorial each require a half-day and should be treated as separate visits. The Vernissage market operates on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays. Ararat brandy is available at the Yerevan Brandy Company factory and tasting room, which accepts visitors.

Watch & Explore More

OBSERVER’s Yerevan walking tour in 4K 60fps is an ideal introduction to one of the world’s most underrated capital cities. For more walking tours across the South Caucasus and the wider region, explore the full collection at @walkingtoursvideoscom. Our guides to Tbilisi’s old town and sulfur baths and Baku’s old city and Flame Towers complete the South Caucasus trilogy.