THE GARDEN OF OUR CHILDHOOD

History of the Dilijan city park

The Dilijan city park is a place that unites people. Most of the residents have fond memories from childhood - walking with the family, visiting attractions and cafes, playing billiards and table tennis.

Unfortunately, these memories are gradually being lost and it has become increasingly difficult to understand what the park used to look like, what was in it and when it was lost. On this page we want to capture some important milestones in the history of the park.


There were private orchards on the site of the park owned by the Vatolin brothers until the 1960s, and in the place of the current stadium, there was an orchard of a man nicknamed Poliak. There was a hydroelectric power plant near the orchards (on the site near the monument and modern cemetery).

In 1965 the creation and improvement of the lake in the park was completed. The author and architect of the project was Seyran Avetisyan, who was the chief architect of Dilijan from 1958 to 1990. It was possible to go boating on the lake.
The park (garden) was officially opened in 1972. It had attractions, pavilions, tables for billiards and table tennis and other attributes of the city park of the Soviet period.

In 1961, the Sputnik movie theater building was opened for visitors.
As a result of damage after the earthquake of 1988, the cinema was no longer functioning. For a while the building served as a furniture warehouse, and at the end of the 1990s it was destroyed completely.

The walls of an unfinished church are now located on the site of the Sputnik cinema building. Its construction began in 1993 but was never completed. The author of the project is the Honored Architect of the Republic of Armenia Grach G. Poghosyan. A new church is being built near the park, so construction work of the unfinished building is not planned.
In recent years, the park has seen serious transformations.
Events and festivals are held here, new areas are opened, and a rope park operates. The park team works every day to make the park a comfortable and pleasant place to be.

Our website is dedicated to the project of transforming the park, which will be implemented in the future. We want to improve Dilijan's city park so that it will be even more enjoyable for residents and visitors of the city. To do this, we ask you to share with us your memories about the park.

If you have photos taken at the park in your family album, please share them with us. Also, share your most vivid memories of the city park with us.

Come with your photos and stories about the park to the DCC (61 Myasnikyan St.) or to the Local History Museum and Art Gallery (28 Myasnikyan St.), where volunteers will scan them. All photos with stories will be published on dcc.am.

Don't forget to put the year on the back of the photo and leave your contact number and a brief description of the story you want to share with us.


THE GARDEN OF OUR CHILDHOOD
Collecting photos from family archives and brief stories is conducted by