This archaeological site dates from 782 BC, three decades before Rome was established. It gives insight into daily life in the palace of Argishti I, one of the greatest kings of Urartu. At the foot of the hill, a poorly maintained Soviet-era museum displays artefacts from the palace excavations including some extraordinary silver rhytons (drinking horns), as well as objects found when an Urartian tomb was uncovered in Yerevan in 1984 during construction of a factory.
The first stage of excavations here started in 1950, after a farmer unearthed an inscribed stone tablet. Archaeologists swooped in and soon found a large cuneiform slab with the inscriptions of Argishti I confirming the date when the fortress was constructed. They went on to uncover the remains of courtyards, halls, temples and rooms that were part of the royal palace. Dozens of Urartian and Achaemenid artefacts and mural fragments were also found, many of which are now displayed in the museum.
The view from the fortress takes in parts of the city and Karmir Blur, where excavations have revealed similar ancient finds. Frescoes in the reconstructed palace wall are replicas. There are huge storerooms for wheat, along with tonir (oven pits) and gigantic pitchers for wine and oil. There’s also a place for animal sacrifices, and workshops (still buried) for making tools. If you're lucky, two women stationed behind the fortress walls will sing you beautiful Armenian songs from their CD, which is available for purchase.
To get here, take bus 2 or marshrutka 14 from Khandjian St or from opposite the Zoravar Andranik metro station on Tigran Mets Ave. Alternatively, take marshrutka 11 from Republic Sq. Get off at the large roundabout with an orange tuff statue of King Argishti in his chariot; it's a 15- to 20-minute trip from the city centre.