Dvin (Armenian: Դվին; Greek: Δουσιος, Τισιον) — was a large commercial city, the capital of medieval Armenia, the ruins of which are located in the province of Ararat nearby a town by the same name. The city was built by Chosroes II in 335 on a site of an ancient settlement and fortress from the third millennium B.C. Since then the city was used as the primary residence of the Armenian Kings of the Arshakuni Dynasty. Ararat (Armenian: ) is one of the provinces (marz) of Armenia with capital in Artashat. ... Events November 7 - Athanasius is banished to Trier, on the charge that he prevented the corn fleet from sailing to Constantinople. ...

Dvin is located North of the previous ancient capital of Armenia, the city of Artaxata, on the banks of Metsamor river, 35 km to the south of modern Yerevan. City plan of Artaxatas hill I and its fortifications. ... Yerevan (Armenian: ÔµÖ€Õ¥Ö‚Õ¡Õ¶ or ÔµÖ€Ö‡Õ¡Õ¶; sometimes written as Erevan; former names include Erebuni and Erivan) (population: 1,088,300 (2004 estimate) [1]) is the largest city and capital of Armenia. ...

Dvin. Central square of the city. The main cathedral, with a basilica in the right (VI c.), and the residence of the Catholicos on the left (V c.). Picture by A. Patrick (based on the sketches of G. Kochoyan).

After the fall of the Armenian Kingdom in 428, Dvin became the residence of Sassanid marzpans (governors), and later Umayyad and Abbasid appointed ostikans (governors). In 640 Dvin was the center of the emirate of Arminia. Under Arshakuni rule, Dvin prospered as one of the most populous and wealthiest cities East of Constantinople. It's welfare continued even after the partition of Armenia between Romans and Sassanid Persians and eventually became a target during the height of the Arab invasions. According to Sebeos and Catholicos John V the Historian, Dvin was captured in 640 during the reign of Constans II and Catholicos Ezra. The Arabs called the city Dabil. Despite the fact that Dvin, was a battleground between Arabs and Byzantine forces for the next two centuries, in the 9th century it was still a flourishing city. Frequent earthquakes and continued Arab oppression led to the decline of the city in the beginning of the 10th century. During a major earthquake in 893, the city was destroyed along with 70 thousand inhabitants. The Seljuks conquered Armenia in 1064 from the Bagratunis. Georgian King Giorgi III temporarily conquered the city from Seljuks in 1173. In 1201-1203 during the reign of Queen Tamar the city was again under Georgian rule. In 1236 the city was completely destroyed by Mongols. Systematic excavations of Dvin are being conducted since 1937 and have produced an abundance of materials which shed light into the culture of Armenia from the 5th to the 13th centuries. Motto: none Anthem: Mer Hayrenik Capital Yerevan Largest city Yerevan Official language(s) Armenian Government President Prime Minister Republic Robert Kocharian Andranik Markaryan Independence  - Declared  - Established From the Soviet Union August 23, 1990 September 21, 1991 Area  â€¢ Total  â€¢ Water (%)   29,800 km² (139th 1) 4. ... Events April 10 - Nestorius is made Patriarch of Constantinople. ... Sassanid Empire at its greatest extent The Sassanid dynasty (also Sassanian) was the name given to the kings of Persia during the era of the second Persian Empire, from 224 until 651, when the last Sassanid shah, Yazdegerd III, lost a 14-year struggle to drive out the Umayyad Caliphate... The Courtyard of the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus, one of the grandest architectural legacies of the Umayyads. ... Abbasid provinces during the caliphate of Harun al-Rashid Abbasid (Arabic: العبّاسيّون AbbāsÄ«yÅ«n) was the dynastic name generally given to the caliphs of Baghdad, the second of the two great Sunni dynasties of the Islamic empire, that overthrew the Umayyad caliphs. ... Constantinople[1] was the name of the modern-day city of Ä°stanbul, Turkey over the centuries that it served as the second capital of the unified Roman Empire, and after its division into East and West, of the Eastern Roman Empire, also known as the Byzantine Empire (from the city... Events May 28 - Severinus becomes pope, but dies the same year. ... Constans and his son Constantine. ... Events Simeon I succeeds Vladimir as king of Bulgaria. ... Events Sunset Crater Volcano first erupts. ... ... Giorgi III Giorgi III (გიორგი III) (d. ... Tamar as depicted on a mural from Vardzia monastery Tamar (1160-1213), from the House of Bagrationi, was Queen of the Kingdom of Georgia from 1184 to 1213. ... // Events May 6 - Roger of Wendover, Benedictine monk and chronicler of St Albanss Abbey dies. ...

References

• The capitals of Armenia, Sergey Vardanyan, Apolo 1995 , ISBN 5-8079-0778-7
• Harutyunyan V.,Architectural landmarks of Dvin, Publication of the Academy of Sciences of Armenian SSR, 1947, № 8.