Tsitsernakaberd

The Armenian Genocide Memorial complex (Հայոց ցեղասպանության զոհերի հուշահամալիր, Hayots tseghaspanutyan zoheri hushahamalir, or Ծիծեռնակաբերդ, Tsitsernakaberd) is Armenia's official memorial dedicated to the victims of the Armenian genocide, built in 1967 on the hill of Tsitsernakaberd (Ծիծեռնակաբերդ) in Yerevan. Every year on 24 April, the Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day, thousands of Armenians gather at the memorial to commemorate the victims of the genocide. The people who gather in Tsiternakaberd lay fresh flowers out of respect for all the people who died in the Armenian genocide. Over the years, from around the world, a wide range of politicians, artists, musicians, athletes, and religious figures have visited the memorial. The Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute (Հայոց ցեղասպանության թանգարան-ինստիտուտ Hayots tseghaspanut'yan tangaran-institut) was opened in 1995. The memorial is set on one of three hills along the Hrazdan River that carry the name Tsitsernakaberd (literally "swallow's fortress"), and was the site of what was once an Iron Age fortress. Most of the above ground traces at this peak have since disappeared, but upon the smaller hill are still traces of a castle. Archaeological surveys took place in 2007, and excavations uncovered a wall that is hundreds of meters long and may still be seen in many places above ground. An altar cut from stone stands in the middle of a square at the edge of one of the hills, and large stones that weigh approximately two tons are still visible that cover graves from the second millennium BC. Apartments were later built along the hills during Roman times, and were built over with other structures during medieval years. Nearby are also the remains of a large cave. The idea of a genocide monument has its origin in the early 1960s when Hakob Zarobian was designated first secretary of the Communist Party of Armenia in 1962.