If you are frustrated by corporate stupidity, avoid this place. I was so angry that the exhibits relating to Armenia in the 20th century - the genocide and Soviet occupation, let's face it, the only interesting stuff - were in Armenian only. You will not learn anything new, which is hugely frustrating. If Armenia wants the world to acknowledge the genocide, it has to start sharing its story at every opportunity. If the State Museum in the nation's capital can't be bothered, then no one else will. Given that the Genocide Memorial is currently closed for repairs, it is sad that I will leave Armenia none the wiser.The museum shares the same building and walkways as the National Art Gallery (a triumph of quantity over quality, with the heat turned way up into "feeling sleepy" mode), both spread out over many floors. You will definitely need to ask directions at times from the creepy guides who follow your every footstep. By contrast, the exhibits on the prehistoric stuff are better laid out. LP is excited about the world's oldest shoe. Meh. I thought the phallic displays were much better. No photos allowed, alas.
Not a large exhibit, but the dioramas showing the early settlement are worth seeing. Not many English descriptions.
Too little coherence or relation to present time. A bunch of, at times, very interesting things on display. The few English texts just described what was already obvious to the eye. No "story telling" on what, where, why, Beautiful collection of carpets on the ground floor!
It is situated at the Republic Square so it is easy to find. The museum is quite big and especially the part of the museum which is about oldest history of Armenia has signs in English beside other languages. The most interesting part for me is the modern history of Armenia which unfortunately has not signs in English. But I must say that there is a very nice carpet selection in the museum, and that has signs in English.
Quit a bit packed into this museum...a realy variety of well preserved antiquities, history, and more . Right on the Square by the fountain.
Admission is cheap, especially if you consider the location, the beauty of the building but of course, also the collection. All kinds of archaeological finds from all over the country showing how ancient civilization Armenia is. My main purpose to rate this place, however, was to state that you are obliged to leave your belongings at the door safe. If you don't particularly feel comfortable with the idea of leaving your bag behind, bear that in mind: you won't be admitted. The lockers seem safe, though, and you keep your locker key.
A good museum. Not fantastic, not bad. Just good. You'll start on the 3rd floor and work your way down to the 2nd, then 1st floor. There are large halls on each floor, but you might need to ask one of the attendants which door to enter since some doors are closed, with no signs, and no direction. When we reached the 1st floor we thought for sure we were done, but then saw one small door open and found another entire hall of carpets and decorative doors. This actually is just an example of how the entire museum is a bit awkwardly laid out. You'll find very good English translation on the 3rd floor, however, the 2nd and 1st floor have English translation on only a tenth of the exhibits and you'll have to just look at the artifacts without really knowing what they are. I've been to the museum twice and it is strangely overstaffed, only by women, some of who will watch you like a hawk and hover awkwardly behind you while you're trying to read a panel. Other female staff will congregate in small groups, giggling with each other, and other staff will be talking loudly on their cell phones. Honestly the staff really detracted from the experience since they made me feel very uncomfortable and were obtrusive to the whole museum experience. But the museum is fairly solid, giving a decent multi-thousand year history of Armenia and its people. Probably a good place to start your Yerevan sight-seeing, but perhaps not the best place to linger for very long.
A beautifully displayed array of gold and artefacts and our guide could not have been more helpful. I'm so glad to have been there as had planned a visit to the Museo d'Oro in Bogota on the way home which was closed for a public holiday (not shown on website!).
The artifacts some of them 4000 years old. It's a must... and the jewelery as well... I spend about 2 hours inside and was fascinated. Paintings were a little disappointing but the rest made up for that.
We found information about this museum in Yerevan Scope hand book for 2014 . In handbook info was saying, that museum opens at 10 am. Since we arrived ,we were told by guard that they open at 11 am. We killed some time walking around to the Moscow house and Noy wine and cognac fabric store .When we arrived ,they were nice to start presentation with translator couple of minutes early. But, what's wrong with those Armenian English translators?. Always in rush and they live you with the feeling like you taking away there time from them. I don't know maybe she didn't have chance to have her morning coffee ,or she seemed to be not feeling good ,but I was under clear impression ,that way she was trying to speed up our tour. I must admit she was very knowledgeable about the topic . When we asked her to see presentation of Yerevan map on "3D" she a little bit hesitated and told us that it would be extra charge for it. But when we sow it, we understand why she wasn't pushing for that show. I don't mind 1000 dram on the show, but it was really poorly done and not 3D for sure, and it wasn't her fault.But ,seriously , Armenian guides/translators ,needs to learn more about customer service and less show the attitude. It's not much to learn ,because otherwise they are knowledgeable ,beautiful and smart people . And it lives completely different impression about there job performance.p.s. BTW I heard when ,she start complaining about us on Armenian , when we took elevator ,and elevator took us upstairs,because one of the workers called elevator before us.We got a clear understanding,that we are not supposed to go there,but it wasn't our fault that elevator took us up and we went down, with one of the museum workers :)