UNDER CONSTRUCTION

   Just  S,   Ararat    village    (till     1935 Davalu) is the native village of former Armenian Defense Minister Vazgen Sargsian, named Prime Minister in June 1999 and murdered along with the whole parliamentary leadership on October 27, 1999 by a small band of malcontents.  Sargsian's brother Aram, who replaced him as Prime Minister, continues  to  live  there,  as   does   his

   S  from  Ararat   on  the  main  road  is Surenavan (till 1946 Avshar Mets, named after Suren Spandarian the professional revolutionary). Before Surenavan a road leads W to the Armash fishponds, which attract a remarkable profusion of exotic birds.

mother. Davalu was the capital of the Vedi-Basar Mahal in Persian times, a region that began to be repopulated with Armenians only with the Russian conquest and exchange of populations in 1828.