The International Symposium “Honorary Hill”, on restoration of memorials dedicated to Russian-Armenian military cooperation, will be held at the Yerevani State University of Architecture and Construction on March 16, the Russian Cooperation (Federal Agency for the Commonwealth of Independent States, Compatriots Living Abroad and International Humanitarian Cooperation) said on Tuesday, News Armenia reports.
Victor Krivopuskov, head of the agency, will take part in the symposium. Reports will be made on Honorary Hill, Russian churches in Armenia in the 19th century, Armenia in Russian diplomacy in the 19th and 20th centuries and the history of the Russian garrison in Gyumri.
Gyumri will hold a flower-laying ceremony at Honorary Hill and a young artists’ exhibition on March 17.
Honorary Hill is a military cemetery founded at Alexandropol (the former name of Gyumri in 1837-1924, Leninakan in 1924-1990) in 1856, on the orders of General Nikolai Muravyov, commander of the Caucasian corps. 156 Russian officers were buried at the cemetery. They took part in the Russian-Turkish wars of 1853-1856 and 1877-1878, including Petr Kovalevsky, Duke Gagarin, Mikhail Grabbe and Ivan Chelokayev. The necropolis was opened and graves were destroyed in the period 1956-1975. A children’s resort was built.
The presidents of Armenia and Russia, Serzh Sargsyan and Dmitry Medvedev, were at the opening of Honorary Hill in Gyumri on August 20, 2010.
