The best way to avoid the warmest time of the year with high temperatures is to have an hour rest at the urban gardens which requires neither much time nor much money. One of the favorite places of the people in Yerevan is the garden near Shahumian Square, which is an ideal place to control tension and enhance relaxation in both your mind and body especially after the busiest working day.
Vazgen Sargsyan Street (Ter-Ghukasovskaya in past) begins with Shahumian Square (Bulvar in past). In the 20th century the place was famous with the cinema “Fantasia” and coach stations in both sides. The street had a width of 1735 meter due to the city plan made by the technique Mehrabov. V. Sargsyan Street was in good shape from 1860 till the beginning of the 20th century after the construction of the administrative and non-governmental buildings. In 1870 the street was considered an administrative part of the city as the governor-general’s residence was located here. In 1884 it got the name Ter-Ghukasovskaya in honour of the General – Lieutenant of the Russian army Arsen Ter-Ghukasov. The street was famous for a number of important buildings, particularly the branch of Tbilisi Trade Bank N 2. One of the first opened pharmacies (deghatun) was located on the street, due to which the street got a new name – Deghatan Street. Among the most remarkable institutions of the new period in the history of Yerevan was the building of “Officers’ Home” (Spayi Tun 1838-1842) located on Ter-Ghukasovskaya, nowadays V. Sargsyan Street. The governor of the Armenian region Behbutov personally took the initiative of the construction works, that was later purchased by Yesayi Djanpoladyan who built this cultural centre according to the international standards. The “Officers’ Home” was officially opened in 1907. In 1912 you could see here the first cinema of Yerevan named after B. Djanibekyan “Grand Illusion”. The street was also called Krepostnay (Fortress Street), furthermore – Shahumian, in 1991 – Parliament (Khorhrdarani) and V. Sargsyan since 2000. Nowadays, V. Sargsyan Street is popular with administrative centers such as Central Bank of the RA, the main Procurator’s office of the RA, State Theatre of Musical Comedy named after H. Paronyan and “Armenia Marriott Hotel Yerevan”.