Military History Museum "Mother Armenia" of the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Armenia

The museum's exposition consists of two main parts: "Participation of the Armenian people in the Second World War" and "The Liberation War of Artsakh."

The Mother Armenia Memorial is located in the capital of Armenia, Yerevan. It was built to commemorate the victory of the USSR in the Great Patriotic War. The memorial was opened on November 29, 1950, on the 30th anniversary of the establishment of Soviet power in Armenia, in Victory Park.

The author of the memorial is People's Architect of the USSR Rafael Israelyan. A 17-meter wrought copper statue of Joseph Stalin by Soviet People's Artist Sergei Merkurov was installed on the pedestal. The massive pedestal with a stepped finish is made of granite, using motifs of national ornaments - stone carvings. It was originally intended for the Museum of the Great Patriotic War. Inside there are three floors of premises with large halls. The outside of the pedestal is decorated with black Armenian tuff; the lower platform and steps are basalt. On the front side there is a bas-relief in the form of the Order of Victory.

In 1962, the Stalin sculpture was dismantled. In 1967, a 22-meter statue of “Mother Armenia” by sculptor Ara Harutyunyan was installed on an empty pedestal. There was no official opening ceremony. The sculptor managed to establish a connection between the new sculpture and the old pedestal both in composition and in decorative details. The surviving fragments of Stalin's sculpture (an eye and a shoe) helped him find a balance between the sizes of the old and new monument.

The statue "Mother Armenia" is made of hammered copper and symbolizes the power and greatness of the Motherland. Represents the image of a mother sheathing a sword. There is a shield at the mother’s feet. She has a “mole” on her forehead, covered with thin sheets of gold. The sculpture is characterized by the stylized shape of the hands and the strict features of the clothing.

In 1970, a museum of the Great Patriotic War was opened at the base of the monument. In 1995, it was renamed the "Mother Armenia" military museum, and since then has been under the jurisdiction of the Armenian Ministry of Defense. The museum has two main sections dedicated to the Great Patriotic and Karabakh wars.

The museum has more than 30,000 exhibits. The section on the Great Patriotic War talks about the participation of the Armenian people in it. On the ground floor there are materials about the Armenian soldiers of the Second World War and their military campaigns, as well as the personal belongings of Marshal Hovhannes Bagramyan.

The gallery on the second floor presents documents, photographs, and descriptive materials of the fighting of the Artsakh War.

Various examples of Soviet weapons are displayed around the pedestal. Among them are an armored infantry vehicle, an armored vehicle-152, a T-34 tank, a MiG-19 aircraft, a Katyusha BM-13, a 76 mm anti-aircraft machine gun, and an S-75 anti-aircraft missile system.

The entrance is free!