History Museum of Armenia

The History Museum of Armenia occupies a wing of the grand ensemble on Republic Square in central Yerevan, Armenia, at 4 Republic Square. It is the country's principal historical museum and its collection covers a span from the Stone Age to the twentieth century, with hundreds of thousands of objects in storage and display. The permanent galleries move chronologically from prehistoric tools and Bronze Age finds, including some of the oldest known leather shoes and early wheel and metalwork discoveries from the Armenian highlands, through the Urartian period, with bronze helmets and cuneiform tablets from sites such as Erebuni, to Hellenistic and early Christian Armenia, medieval art, and ethnographic displays of clothing, jewellery and household items. Ancient coins, manuscripts and carved stones add to the collection. Visitors spend about one and a half to two hours, and guided tours are offered in Armenian and in foreign languages for a higher fee. Official hours are Tuesday to Sunday from 11:00 to 18:00, with the ticket office closing at 17:30, and the museum is closed Monday, on national holidays and on memorial days. Weekday mornings are generally the quietest, while weekends bring more families and groups. The museum shares its building with the National Gallery of Armenia, and the two are usually visited together. Republic Square metro station is next to the entrance. Admission is modest, with reduced rates for students, and a guide helps put the displays into the broader context of Armenian history. Combining the museum with an evening walk around the square and its fountains makes a convenient half-day itinerary.