Armenian Genocide Museum (Tsitsernakaberd)

The museum features a permanent multimedia exhibit with photos and artifacts as well as various temporary shows. Information panels are available in English, meaning even visitors unfamiliar with basic facts about the Armenian Genocide can get up to speed. Guided tours in multiple languages are offered by the museum with advance reservations. Some Yerevan city tours stop here; there are also themed tours for anyone interested in the Armenian Genocide and its lasting legacies.

• Guided tours are only offered for adults and teenagers 13 or older. Due to the graphic nature of some of the documentation and the disturbing subject matter, the museum isn’t recommended for younger kids.

• The memorial features 12 slabs grouped in a circular formation, an “eternal” flame meant to signify remembrance and mourning, and a wall where visitors can find the names of the Armenian towns most impacted engraved.

• While there is no admission fee to enter the museum or memorial, donations are appreciated. You can find a donation box in the main foyer.

• Not able to travel just yet? You can view artifacts and information related to the genocide from their own homes. The official website of the Armenian Genocide Museum has many interactive virtual exhibits too.

• The memorial complex has public restrooms. There’s also an on-site bookshop for anyone interested in picking up reading materials or postcards.

The Armenian Genocide Museum is up Tsisernakaberd Hill outside downtown Yerevan and about a 15-minute walk from the Karen Demirtchian Sports Complex, a surreal Soviet-era landmark and concert venue. The museum can be reached by taxi from Republic Square in 10 minutes. (Ask the driver to wait for you, or have a ridesharing app downloaded, because you’re unlikely to find a return taxi.) On-site parking is available for those with their own transportation.

While you should check up-to-date opening hours ahead of their visit, the museum is typically open from mid-morning until late afternoon depending on the season. It is closed on Mondays and national and religious holidays. On April 24th, Remembrance Day of the Armenian Genocide, Armenians gather in the thousands to lay flowers at the Tsisernakaberd memorial site.

The dry-sounding name might not be overly appealing, particularly if you’re not interested in stadium sports. But this strange and imposing building—designed by famed Armenian architect Arthur Tarkhanyan—is one of Yerevan’s most unique architectural gems. A walk around the exterior is enough to appreciate its quirky, almost spaceship-like design from the days of the USSR, but it’s worth trying to see a concert or event inside to truly appreciate this 6,000-seater mammoth.

One of Yerevan’s most recognizable landmarks, this iconic memorial complex pays tribute to the victims of the Armenian Genocide. It features 12 basalt pillars, representing the 12 original Armenian provinces, and a commemoration wall inscribed with the names of towns and villages where attacks were carried out during the genocide.

Spanning three indoor halls and one outdoor gallery, the museum contains a permanent exhibit documenting life in Western Armenia under the Ottoman Empire. It also features photographs, eyewitness accounts, archival documents, and films related to the atrocities carried out against Armenians. There are seasonal, temporary exhibitions in the art gallery.

Yes. The museum offers tours in Armenian, Russian, English, French, and German every day of the week except for Monday. They need to be reserved in advance by phone. The museum is also a popular stop on many half and full-day itineraries of Yerevan offered by private tour providers.

Yes. It is strictly forbidden to eat, drink, or smoke on the museum premises, so make sure you’ve snacked beforehand. Visitors should remember that this is a sad site of reflection and mourning; you may choose to observe a respectful silence or at least keep loud conversation to a minimum.

While entry to the exhibitions is free, the museum welcomes voluntary donations. If you’d like to support their awareness-raising mission in other ways, consider stopping by the bookstore and picking up a publication on the Armenian Genocide. Armchair travelers can consult the museum’s online exhibits on the official website.

Guided tours at the museum are only offered to children 13 and under, and that’s probably a good rule of thumb for anyone planning on bringing their kids along. Some of the content on display—including photographs and survivor testimonies—may be disturbing for younger children, so keep that in mind.