The Grand Cascade can rightfully be called one of the famous landmarks of the Armenian capital. This is the only architectural composition of this genre in the entire post-Soviet space and a favorite vacation spot for townspeople and tourists.
Armenian wonder of the world
The Grand Cascade in Yerevan looks pretty pompous. But for those who know Armenians well, this is not surprising. This nation celebrates not only weddings on a large scale, but also builds monuments. Take, for example, the Mother Armenia monument.
The Grand Cascade can hardly be called a monument. Rather, it is an architectural composition. Outwardly, it resembles a huge multi-tiered Babylonian pyramid. This is a whole system of giant staircases with fountains, located on a mountain slope. The composition also includes the territory of the adjacent park. It is crowned with the "Revived Armenia" obelisk. It is also large in size: its height is 50 m.
The length of the Cascade is 500 m, the width is 50 m, and the height is 100 m. The staircase has 675 steps. Milky tuff was used for the construction. The material was not chosen by chance: the bowels of Armenia abound with this stone.
The outward appearance of the Grand Cascade traces the history of Yerevan from ancient times. Traditional Armenian ornaments can be seen on the fountains.
There are observation platforms on all seven tiers. From the very top, a breathtaking view of the whole of Yerevan and the gray-haired Ararat opens. For the rest of the visitors there are benches.
The pompous composition was not conceived for the sake of beauty, it pursues a good purpose. It was decided to build the Grand Cascade to connect two parts of Yerevan: the city center lying in the lowlands and the residential area located in the mountains.
A bit of history
The Grand Cascade was built according to the sketches of the famous Armenian architect Alexander Tamanyan, who designed almost all of Yerevan. Initially, in 1960, only one rather modest artificial waterfall fountain was erected on the site of the future Cascade. On its back wall there was a unique mosaic - fish made from multi-colored stones. Red tuff sand was poured around the fountain.
Further construction was resumed in 1971. It is noteworthy that the construction of the landmark was repeatedly suspended. This happened for the first time in 1980 for a banal reason - a lack of money. For the second time, the construction was frozen due to the 1988 earthquake in Spitak. After 3 years, the construction of the Cascade was stopped again. This time because of the collapse of the USSR. The construction was completed only in 2009.
Inside view
If you look inside the structure, you can see an escalator. On it you can climb only 2/3 of the height of the Cascade. Inside is an art museum displaying contemporary sculptures, mostly made of glass.
Where is located
To see the Grand Cascade with your own eyes, you need to get to the street of architect Tamanyan. It is located at the beginning. At the foot of the composition there is a monument to the architect and a square with funny sculptures.
A taxi or public transport, such as the metro, will take you to the desired address. The nearest station is Marshal Baghramyan. From it you should go to the west along the avenue of the same name.
Opening hours of the Grand Cascade - around the clock. Guided tours are available by appointment.
