The street we are going to tell you about is named after the great Armenian poet Hovhannes Toumanyan. Throughout history the street’s name has often changed, and if a book of street names and formulations was created it’d include more than 1000 names. Few people may know that one of the leading Brandy-Wine Factory of Old Erivan, “Psak” newspaper edition, Alexander Tamanyan’s workshop and the town’s registry office was once located on Toumanyan Street.
Toumanyan Street begins from Khanjian Street; it is intersected with Hanrapetoutyan, Nalbandyan, Abovyan, Teryan, Yeznik Koghbatsi streets and runs from the north-west to south-east. Poghos Petrous Church (nowadays “Moscow” cinema), “Psak” (Crown) newspaper edition, the female private school after St. Gayane founded in 1866 on demand of the local intellectuals and Etchmiatsin Synod could be found on Toumanyan street, and these architectural monuments were built to promote and strengthen the Armenian culture, religion and the role of the Armenian language among the residents. A. Ejubove was the architect of the buliding. The school operated until 1932. During the First World War the school was considered an orphanage and a hospital; in 1920s it was A. Tamanyan’s workshop and the Committee for the Protection of Monuments on behalf of A. Tamanyan. But the building was to be destroyed (in 1931) as with the case of Poghos Petrous Church.
As already mentioned, one of the leading Brandy-Wine Factories of Old Erivan was also located there. The factory belonged to A. Soghomonyan, designed by a famous architect B. Mehrabyan in 1873-1913s. The Branch of Commercial and Industrial Company belonging to Soghomonyan Brothers in Tbilisi, founded in 1853, was soon opened in Yerevan. The building consisted of cellars, the office and the factory. By the way, the factory was the only one throughout the whole Caucasus to have been awarded a medal for producing a real brandy in Chicago in 1893. A. Khudabashyan’s house was the typical place for the town registry office on Toumanyan Street.
Though there are a few green areas on Toumanyan Street and the whole Yerevan itself, one of the most beloved leisure places – the “Swan Lake” is located on the intersections of Toumanyan and Teryan Streets. It is an ideal place both in summer and in winter, as people can experience unforgettable moments in each season. By the way, the lake is transformed into a skating rink in winter which is always full of professional and amateur skaters all day long.

The Street was called:
Doctorskaya – at the end of 1856-1920
Lenin – at the end of 1921-60
Toumanyan – since 1961