Yerevan Cascade is a 302-meter long and 50-meter wide longitudinal complex that covers an area of 13 hectares. It is an architectural heritage dating from Soviet Armenia which connects Yerevan's city center with a hilltop Victory Park. Its north-south orientation makes the complex a part of the city center's main axis and provides views of Ararat Valley. It consists of five platforms laying on a hillside connected by altogether 572 steps. The uppermost terrace is called Monumental Terrace which was given a name by Monument of the 40th anniversary of Soviet Armenia. At that level, the complex reaches a height of 118 meters. Inside the complex, there are escalators and elevators which connect all platforms from the base to the top. The exterior consists of fountains, Armenian cross-stones, courtyards and gardens with incorporated sculptures made by world-famous sculptors like Linnie Chadwick and Fernando Botero. One of the sculptures is dedicated to Alexander Tamanyan.

History

Alexander Tamanyan was the first architect to have come up with the idea of creating cascading waterfalls and terraced gardens between those two parts of the city. In 1970, 34 years after Tamanyan's death, the idea of building the cascades was brought back by Torosyan who didn't fully retain the original plan but added new elements instead, such as wide stairways, exhibition halls, courtyards, indoor escalators, and sculptures in the gardens. Construction started in the 1980s and was later interrupted twice. The first time due to the earthquake in 1988 while the second time the fall of Soviet Union in 1991 caused it. Afterward, the cascades were not taken care of due to the lack of funds. In 2002 the government of Republic of Armenia decided to regenerate the already existing parts of Yerevan cascade and to continue building unfinished parts of it. The project was arranged by Cafesjian Museum Foundation which created a cinema with a capacity of 260 people. Later, when the cinema was shut down, they teamed up with an architect David Hatson to develop a museum project established in 2009 named Cafesjian Center for the Arts.