Yerevan Cascade

The Yerevan Cascade is a giant stairway on a hillside, rising north from the centre of the city. The idea goes back to Alexander Tamanian's master plan of the 1920s, which sought to link the lower city with the upper districts by a ceremonial axis; construction began only in 1971, to a design by Jim Torosyan, Aslan Mkhitaryan and Sargis Gurzadyan. The structure is faced in pale travertine and consists of several terraces with fountains, flower beds and reliefs; the climb is more than a hundred metres and there are around five hundred steps. Escalators run inside the Cascade, and works from the collection of Gerard Cafesjian, whose arts centre has occupied the building since 2009, are displayed on the landings. At the foot lies the Tamanian garden with its sculpture, and at the top stand the Rebirth of Armenia monument and Victory Park with the Mother Armenia statue. From the upper terraces a view opens over the city and towards Ararat, if the sky is clear. Admission to both the stairway and the museum halls of the Cafesjian Center for the Arts is free; escalators run inside, so you can reach the top effortlessly and walk down for the views. In the evening the terraces are floodlit, and the cafes at the foot, in the Tamanian garden, work late. Ararat is visible from the upper platform only in clear weather, most often in the morning.

On the map