# Dzitoghtsyan Museum, Gyumri > The Dzitoghtsyan Museum — officially the Museum of National Architecture and Urban Life — is an 1872 merchant's house of red tuff in Gyumri's Kumayri old town. Allow about an hour. Adult tickets cost AMD 2,000 and also cover the Merkurov house museum; under-12s go free. The museum's site lists daily hours of 11:00–17:00, to 18:00 Friday to Sunday. Inside: old Alexandropol's crafts, period rooms and a model of the 1910s city, a 10-minute walk from Vardanants Square. Web page: https://yesgo.io/armenia/gyumri/dzitoghtsyan-museum - City: [Gyumri](https://yesgo.io/armenia/gyumri), Armenia - YesGo score: 38/100 (Yes, if nearby) - Time on site: 1 h - With kids: Fine with kids - Ticket: AMD 2,000 — covers this museum and the Merkurov house museum - Students, pupils, pensioners: AMD 1,000 - Children: Free under 12 - Guided tour in English: AMD 4,000, book ahead (also Russian or French) - Hours: Daily 11:00–17:00, Fri–Sun to 18:00 - Mondays: Official page says open; older guides say closed — call first - Time needed: About 1 hour, 1.5 with the Merkurov house - Address: 47 Haghtanak (Victory) Avenue, Gyumri - From Vardanants Square: About 700 m, roughly 10 minutes on foot - Coordinates: 40.78139, 43.84556 - Facts checked: 02.11.2026 ## Key facts - **1872** — the year the mansion was built by the wealthy merchant Petros Dzitoghtsyan (source: official museum page (mus.am); English Wikipedia; Armenia Discovery) - **1984** — the year the house opened as a museum (source: official museum page (mus.am); Wikidata; English Wikipedia) - **2 museums** — on one ticket: the Dzitoghtsyan house and sculptor Sergey Merkurov's house museum (source: official museum page (mus.am)) - **Dzitogh** — the village in Western Armenia the family came from, and the source of its name (source: official museum page (mus.am); English Wikipedia) - **Four brothers** — built the house, according to the encyclopaedia and one guide; the museum names a single merchant, Petros (source: English Wikipedia; Armenia Discovery) - **Red tuff** — the local Shirak stone the house is built from (source: English Wikipedia; Armenia Discovery) - **1860s–1920s** — the period of Alexandropol life and crafts the displays cover (source: official museum page (mus.am); English Wikipedia) - **10 crafts** — from blacksmithing and coppersmithing to hat making, weaving and jewellery (source: official museum page (mus.am)) - **7 churches** — shown on the scale model of Gyumri as it looked in the 1910s (source: official museum page (mus.am)) - **Kumayri** — the historic quarter of Gyumri where the house stands (source: English Wikipedia; OpenStreetMap) - **Over 3,000** — items in the Merkurov house museum, death masks included (source: official Merkurov house museum page (mus.am)) > **Visiting on a Monday? Call ahead** The museum's official page now says it opens Monday to Sunday, but most travel guides and older listings still give Monday as the closing day, and the Merkurov house's own page says Tuesday to Sunday. If Monday is your Gyumri day, ring the museum first on +374 312 53600. On other days, arrive by 16:00 so you have time for both houses. ## Is the Dzitoghtsyan Museum worth visiting? Yes — it's the best single place to see what Gyumri was like before the 1988 earthquake. In one hour you get the city's old crafts, two reconstructed homes and a scale model of the streets as they were in the 1910s. The ticket also gets you into the Merkurov house museum next door, in the same complex, so it's good value. Do it before you wander the [Kumayri old town](https://yesgo.io/armenia/gyumri/kumayri-historic-district). Once you've seen the model, you start recognising the same churches and tuff houses on the street. A natural order is [Vardanants Square](https://yesgo.io/armenia/gyumri/vardanants-square), the museum, then the old lanes, and the [Black Fortress](https://yesgo.io/armenia/gyumri/black-fortress) on the hill if you still have energy. Skip it if you want big galleries or famous masterpieces: it's a modest house museum where the value is in the detail. That's the main reason to book the English tour — a guide turns a row of tools and rooms into the story of a whole city. ## Tickets and opening hours An adult ticket is **AMD 2,000**; pupils, students and pensioners pay **AMD 1,000**; children under 12 go free. The same ticket covers two museums — the Dzitoghtsyan house and the Merkurov house museum. These are the prices on the museum's official page on the Armenian museums portal, mus.am, as of 2 November 2026. Museum staff run guided tours: **AMD 4,000** in English, Russian or French, **AMD 2,000** in Armenian. Book in advance on +374 312 53600 or +374 41 463600 — a guide may not be free if you just turn up. Going alone works too; the rooms are small and easy to follow. Official hours are **11:00–17:00 every day**, extended to **18:00 on Friday, Saturday and Sunday**. Older guides give other times — opening at 10:00, closing at 17:30, or a Monday closure — so treat Mondays and public holidays as uncertain. You may see lower prices in older tour descriptions, such as AMD 1,000 or 1,650; the museum no longer lists them. Prices are in Armenian dram (AMD). Visa and Mastercard are widely accepted in Armenia, but small venues can be cash-only, so carry a few dram notes in case the card machine is down. ## What is the Museum of National Architecture and Urban Life? It's a merchant family's mansion built in **1872** and run as a museum since **1984**. Gyumri was called **Alexandropol** at the time, and the museum's job is to show how its townspeople lived and worked from the 1860s to the 1920s. Locals simply call it the Dzitoghtsyan (or Dzitoghtsonts) house. The family took its name from **Dzitogh**, a village in Western Armenia they left for Alexandropol. The museum credits the house to the wealthy merchant **Petros Dzitoghtsyan**; English Wikipedia and Armenia Discovery say four brothers built it. It's most likely the same family project, but the sources don't settle it. The walls are **red tuff**, the volcanic stone of the Shirak region that most of old Gyumri is built from. It isn't a palace — it's a solid two-storey townhouse with a courtyard and gates, which is exactly why it works: you see real city architecture first, then the objects people used inside it. ## What to see inside - **Alexandropol's crafts** — blacksmithing, tinsmithing, coppersmithing and metal casting, carpentry, tailoring, shoemaking, hat making, weaving and jewellery, with tools and finished pieces from the 1860s to the 1920s. - **An artisan's home** — a reconstructed Gyumri craftsman's living space, plain and practical. - **A wealthy family's rooms** — the contrast: European furniture, carpets, tableware and the comforts of the city's richer households. - **The 1910s city model** — Gyumri before Soviet rebuilding and earthquakes, with its seven churches, main streets and landmark buildings. Look at it before you walk the old town. - **Everyday and religious life** — feasts, customs and the religious objects of ordinary townspeople. - **The house itself** — red tuff, arched gates, the courtyard and wooden details; take a minute outside before and after the rooms. - **The Merkurov house museum** — the sculptor's work, papers and his death masks of Tumanyan, Khrimian Hayrik, Tolstoy, Lenin and Mayakovsky; included in the same ticket. ## The Merkurov house museum on the same ticket Your ticket also covers the **Sergey Merkurov house museum**, part of the same museum and listed at the same address, 47 Haghtanak Avenue. Merkurov was a sculptor and monumental artist best known for his death masks. Give it an extra 20–30 minutes — it's compact but unlike anything else in Gyumri. The highlight is the room of **death masks**: poet Hovhannes Tumanyan, Catholicos Khrimian Hayrik, Leo Tolstoy, Vladimir Lenin, Vladimir Mayakovsky and others. Around them are his sculptures, documents and personal belongings — over 3,000 items in all, according to the house museum's page. The Merkurov house also opened in 1984. After the 1988 earthquake it sheltered families who had lost their homes, and it was fully restored in 2003. Its own page gives Tuesday to Sunday hours — one more reason not to plan both houses for a Monday. ## How to get to the Dzitoghtsyan Museum 1. Start at Vardanants Square, the heart of the Kumayri old town, with the Holy Saviour and Seven Wounds churches beside it. 2. On foot: about 700 m south-east through the quiet old-town streets, roughly 10 minutes. You're heading for 47 Haghtanak (Victory) Avenue. 3. By taxi: 3–5 minutes. GG and Yandex Go show the fare first and let you pay by card in the app; street taxis want cash in dram. 4. From Gyumri railway station: about 10 minutes by taxi to the centre. Trains from Yerevan take around 2.5–3 hours. 5. City minibuses (marshrutkas) run, but for such a short hop from the centre walking is easier — and you pass the old tuff houses on the way. ## Before you go: checklist - [ ] Not going on a Monday — or I've phoned the museum - [ ] Arriving by 16:00 to see both houses - [ ] Some dram in cash for the ticket and souvenirs - [ ] English tour booked a day ahead, if I want a guide - [ ] Student card or pensioner ID for the reduced ticket - [ ] Old town walk planned for afterwards ## Dzitoghtsyan Museum, Kumayri old town or the Black Fortress? | | Dzitoghtsyan Museum | Kumayri old town | Black Fortress | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | What it is | 1872 merchant's house museum | Quarter of old tuff houses | 19th-century Russian citadel | | Entry | AMD 2,000, two museums | Free, open streets | Free (unofficial) | | Time needed | 1–1.5 h | 1.5–2 h | About 1 h | | From Vardanants Square | About 10 min on foot | Starts at the square | 20–25 min uphill on foot | | Best for | Old Alexandropol life and crafts | Architecture and atmosphere | Walls and the city view | The museum and the old town go together: see the model and the rooms, then the same streets for real. The fortress is across town and needs its own hour. ## Gyumri history spots compared Historic places in Gyumri rated by YesGo. - [Holy Saviour's Church](https://yesgo.io/armenia/gyumri/gyumri-holy-saviour-church) — YesGo score 45/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 30 min · Free - [Vardanants Square](https://yesgo.io/armenia/gyumri/vardanants-square) — YesGo score 45/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 20 min · Free - [Seven Wounds Church (Holy Mother of God Cathedral)](https://yesgo.io/armenia/gyumri/seven-wounds-church) — YesGo score 45/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 25 min · Free - [Plplan Zham (St Michael the Archangel Church)](https://yesgo.io/armenia/gyumri/plplan-zham) — YesGo score 44/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 15 min · Free - [Mother Armenia statue, Gyumri](https://yesgo.io/armenia/gyumri/gyumri-mother-armenia) — YesGo score 43/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 30 min · Free - [Black Fortress (Sev Berd)](https://yesgo.io/armenia/gyumri/black-fortress) — YesGo score 42/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h · Free (unofficial) - [Kumayri historic district](https://yesgo.io/armenia/gyumri/kumayri-historic-district) — YesGo score 42/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h 30 min · Free — public streets - [Dzitoghtsyan Museum of National Architecture](https://yesgo.io/armenia/gyumri/dzitoghtsyan-museum) — YesGo score 38/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h · AMD 2,000, two museums - [Marmashen Monastery](https://yesgo.io/armenia/gyumri/marmashen-monastery) — YesGo score 32/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h · Free - [Talin Cathedral](https://yesgo.io/armenia/gyumri/talin-cathedral) — YesGo score 29/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 45 min · Free ## Half a day in Gyumri: square, church and museum The main square, the Holy Saviour church, the Dzitoghtsyan house and the old streets — all on foot. Add it to your route and YesGo sets the timing and the walks between stops. 1. [Vardanants Square](https://yesgo.io/armenia/gyumri/vardanants-square) — YesGo score 45/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 20 min · Free 2. [Holy Saviour's Church](https://yesgo.io/armenia/gyumri/gyumri-holy-saviour-church) — YesGo score 45/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 30 min · Free 3. [Dzitoghtsyan Museum of National Architecture](https://yesgo.io/armenia/gyumri/dzitoghtsyan-museum) — YesGo score 38/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h · AMD 2,000, two museums 4. [Kumayri historic district](https://yesgo.io/armenia/gyumri/kumayri-historic-district) — YesGo score 42/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h 30 min · Free — public streets ## How we score it The YesGo score weighs the time a place asks of you against what you get back. The Dzitoghtsyan house is cheap, close to the centre and explains old Gyumri in an hour, with a second museum on the same ticket. It loses points for the confusion over Mondays and its small scale: on your own many things stay just objects, while a guide costs extra but gives you far more. ## Tips - See the museum before the old town walk: after the 1910s model, Kumayri's streets make much more sense. - Keep your ticket — it gets you into the Merkurov house museum too. - Book the English tour a day ahead by phone; without a booking there may be no guide free. - On a Monday, phone first — sources disagree on whether it's open. - The [Holy Saviour church](https://yesgo.io/armenia/gyumri/gyumri-holy-saviour-church) and Vardanants Square are a few minutes away; do them before or after. - The museum sometimes hosts evening concerts and museum nights — check what's on in Gyumri. ## Questions ### How much is the Dzitoghtsyan Museum entrance fee? AMD 2,000 for adults and AMD 1,000 for pupils, students and pensioners; children under 12 are free. The ticket also covers the Merkurov house museum. These are the prices on the official museum page. ### What are the opening hours? According to the official page, 11:00–17:00 every day and until 18:00 on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Guides list other times and a Monday closure, so call ahead on a Monday. ### Is the museum open on Mondays? The official page says Monday to Sunday, but many guides still say it's closed on Mondays. If that's your only day, phone +374 312 53600 before going. ### Where is the Dzitoghtsyan Museum? At 47 Haghtanak (Victory) Avenue in the Kumayri old town, about 700 m south-east of Vardanants Square. ### How do I get there from the centre? Walk from Vardanants Square in about 10 minutes, or take a taxi for 3–5 minutes; GG and Yandex Go let you pay by card in the app. ### How long do you need? About an hour for the Dzitoghtsyan house and 20–30 minutes more for the Merkurov house museum — around 90 minutes with a guided tour. ### Are there English-language tours? Yes. Tours in English, Russian or French cost AMD 4,000 and in Armenian AMD 2,000. Book in advance by phone. ### What is there to see inside? Alexandropol's crafts from the 1860s to the 1920s, a reconstructed artisan's home and a wealthy family's rooms, a scale model of 1910s Gyumri with its seven churches, and the red-tuff house itself. The Merkurov house adds his famous death masks. ### Who were the Dzitoghtsyans? A merchant family from the village of Dzitogh in Western Armenia who settled in Alexandropol. The museum names Petros Dzitoghtsyan as the builder; Wikipedia says four brothers. The house was finished in 1872. ### Is it good for kids? Yes, especially school-age children: the workshops full of tools and the city model beat ordinary display cases. Under-12s go free. An hour may be a lot for toddlers. ## How we checked Prices, hours and tours are from the museum's official page on mus.am, opened on 02.11.2026. Sources disagree: a cached copy of the same page and the Merkurov house museum's page give AMD 1,500 and Tuesday to Sunday; Armenia Discovery gives Tuesday to Saturday 10:00–17:00 and AMD 1,000; tour descriptions mention AMD 1,000 and 1,650. We show the museum's current figures and mark Mondays as checking. Who built the house — one merchant, Petros (museum page), or four brothers (Wikipedia, Armenia Discovery) — is shown both ways. The stone is red tuff per Wikipedia and Armenia Discovery. The distance and walking time from Vardanants Square come from an OpenStreetMap walking route, not our own measurement. Card payment and taxi apps are from travel guides to Armenia; we don't quote taxi fares because they change. ## Sources - Gyumri Museum of National Architecture and Urban Life — official page on the Armenian museums portal mus.am (ICOM Armenia): hours, tickets, tours, displays - Sergey Merkurov House-Museum — official page on mus.am: history, collection, hours - English Wikipedia — Dzitoghtsyan Museum of National Architecture - Wikidata — Q16388907 - Armenia Discovery — The Architectural Museum of Gyumri - Armenia Travel — museum listing and Gyumri articles - Armenpress — An Evening at the Museum with the Gyumri State Symphony Orchestra, September 2026 - OpenStreetMap — address, coordinates and walking route from Vardanants Square --- This is the Markdown version of a YesGo page for AI assistants. Quote the web page link above, not this file.