Alaverdi

Alaverdi 

now a city, until 1938 a settlement, in the center of the Tumanian Raion in the north of the Armenian SSR. It is located in the canyon of the Debed River (Kura Basin) and rises on its slopes to an altitude of about 650 m above the river level. It is served by the Leninakan-Tbilisi railroad line. The population is 24,000 (1968). It is an old center of the Armenian copper industry. Alaverdi has a rich revolutionary tradition. In 1903 the proletariat of Alaverdi supported the general strike of the Baku workers. There was a big strike in Alaverdi in 1906 under the leadership of the Bolsheviks S. Spandarian and S. Shaumian. After the February Revolution of 1917, a soviet of workers’ deputies was set up in Alaverdi in March. Alaverdi was a major Bolshevik center in Armenia during the struggle for the establishment of Soviet authority. A big copper and chemical combine is located in Alaverdi, along with light industry and food enterprises and an industrial-technological school.

---

Alaverdi 

a cathedral of the first quarter of the 11th century, an outstanding monument of Georgian medieval architecture.

Alaverdi is 20 km northwest of Telavi, Georgian SSR. In plan it is an elongated cross; above the midpoint of the cross rises a dome upheld by a high drum (reconstructed in the 15th century). The interior space is majestic: the height of the vault is more than 42 m. In the 1960’s, 15th-century wall paintings were discovered. Near Alaverdi are the ruins of later buildings of a palatial type, a dining hall (from the beginning of the 17th century), a bell tower, barracks, a public bath, and other buildings.

REFERENCE

Chubinashvili, G. N. Arkhitektura Kakhetii . .. Tbilisi, 1956 (tables) and 1959 (text).