Geographical location

Jermuk is located on a small plateau at an altitude of 2080m above sea level, which is divided into two parts by the beautiful gorge of the Arpa River. The town is located in the south-eastern part of the Republic of Armenia, in Vayotsdzor marz. (on the territory of Vayotsdzor marz of the historical Syunik marz), 50 km north of the regional center – east, 173 km from the capital Yerevan.

The administrative area is about 5.5 thousand hectares. It is connected to Yerevan by two highways, of which the Jermuk-Yerask-Yerevan highway is shorter and is about 170 km long. The city is 24 km away from the Yerevan-Goris-Stepanakert highway.

The city is surrounded by mountain ranges reaching a height of 2500-3000 meters. The surroundings are covered with forests. Some of the forests were planted in 1980-1990s.

Climatic conditions

Jermuk has a mountainous climate. Summers are cool, winters are long and snowy. The duration of sunshine is 2300 hours per year. The average daily air temperature in Jermuk is +0.40C in spring, +15.30C in summer, +4.90C in fall, -90C in winter. The average temperature in January is -90C, minimum -350C, July – 180C, maximum – 320C, annual precipitation is about 800mm, relative humidity – 45-48%, duration of sunshine – 2340 hours.

Historical overview

The settlement has been mentioned since the 13th century, in the historian Stepanos Orbelian’s work “History of the State of Sisakan”. However, the ruins and remains of the old cyclopean fortress and church of the 8th century on the territory of the town testify to the fact that the settlement of Jermuk, located near the mineral water springs, existed a long time ago.

Jermuk used to be the Armenian village of Jermuk. Later it was destroyed by foreigners and a new village was built in its place, which was translated as Istisu. It was renamed Jermuk in 1924.

The town also includes the village of Kechut, located 3 km to the southwest. In 2016, according to the Law of the Republic of Armenia “On Administrative-Territorial Division”, the villages of Gndevaz, Gerger and Karmrashen were annexed to the Jermuk Urban Municipality.

At the mouth of a tributary flowing into the Arpa River, a mineral waterfall several tens of meters high has appeared. It is especially known for its 36 healing hot springs on the right and left banks of the Arpa River, with hot springs having hydrocarbonate-sulfate composition. There are also nearby Narzan-type water, therapeutic muds, glass raw materials (quartzites).

The healing mineral waters of Jermuk have long been used both by the common people and the princes of Syunat for the treatment of various diseases. This is evidenced by the remains of the swimming pool built in the Middle Ages, which was rebuilt and restored in 1860s by the royal priest Gevorg Khanagyan, and the pool is still popularly called “Pristavi Gel”. Despite its rich historical past, the foundation of today’s new town was laid only in 1940, with the completion of the first sanatorium.

In the following years, Jermuk was built and developed, all opportunities were created for active recreation, health improvement and tourism for both the population and vacationers.

The first general plan of Jermuk was drawn up in 1945 by architect P.Msryan, in 1952 the second one was drawn up by architect P.Manukyan, and in 1960-1962 it was revised, which started a new stage of development of Jermuk. A large bridge was built on the Arpa Gorge in 1975. The construction of the bridge allowed to concentrate housing construction on the left bank of the valley for the residents of two neighborhoods. In the 1980s, the city had about 10,000 residents, a network of sanatoriums and boarding houses for about 2,000 beds, with all the infrastructure and services for active recreation and treatment. Due to objective reasons, the active life of the spa town sharply increased from the 1990s, which began to revive from the end of the 1990s.

The remains of an old swimming pool discovered in Jermuk prove that people used hot springs in the Middle Ages. The old pool was inhabited in the second half of the 19th century, when Jermuk became part of the Sharur-Daralaghyazi district of Yerevan province.

Population

In 1988-1989 Azerbaijanis emigrated to Azerbaijan because of the massacre of Armenians that started in Azerbaijan. In 1988 there were about 1154 Armenians living here, who emigrated from Baku, Sumgait, Mingichaur, Barda and Nakhchivan.

Now the population of Jermuk is 5,833, of which

men: 2777

women: 3056 people

0-4 years old: 117 people

5-9 years old: 220 people

10-18 years: 240 people.

The number of working population is 3,546 people, the number of households – 1,434.

The number of pensioners is 1478 people, the number of disabled people is 207 people, of which

Number of disabled persons of the I group – 41 persons.

The number of disabled people of the II group: 72.

Number of disabled people of group III: 95.

Number of disabled children up to 18 years old: 7.

Economy

There are industrial enterprises in the city.