National Gallery of Armenia

The National Gallery of Armenia occupies the north-eastern wing of the Government and museum ensemble on Republic Square in Yerevan, with its entrance at 1 Aram Street. It is the country's main art museum and holds a large collection spanning Armenian painting, sculpture and graphic art alongside European and Russian works. The Armenian galleries are the core attraction: they trace the development of national art from medieval manuscript illumination and icons through the nineteenth-century portraits and landscapes of artists such as Hovhannes Aivazovsky, to the modernist painting of Martiros Saryan, Hakob Kojoyan and Minas Avetisyan. European and Russian rooms show works from the Renaissance to the nineteenth century. The gallery is arranged chronologically over several floors, and visitors move through the galleries at their own pace or join a guided tour, offered in Armenian and in foreign languages at a higher fee and best booked ahead. A typical visit takes one and a half to two hours. Official hours are Tuesday to Saturday from 11:00 to 18:00 and Sunday from 11:00 to 17:00, closed Monday, with the ticket office closing 30 minutes before closing. Weekday late mornings are the quietest time, and weekends bring school groups and tourists. The museum shares its building with the History Museum of Armenia, so many visitors combine the two for a full cultural day on the square. Admission is modest, and discounts apply to students and pensioners, with several visitor groups admitted free. Republic Square metro station is next to the entrance, making the gallery one of the easiest museums in the city to reach.