Stepanavan
town in the Lori Province of Armenia
Stepanavan (Armenian: Ստեփանավան) is a city and municipal community in the Lori Province of Armenia. It is located 139 km (86 mi) north of the capital Yerevan and 24 km (15 mi) north of the provincial centre Vanadzor, halfway between Yerevan and Tbilisi. As of the 2011 census, the population of the town is 13,086. Currently, the town has an approximate population of 10,800 as per the 2016 official estimate. As of the 2022 census, the population of the town is 11,982.
Due to its location on the shores of Dzoraget River among the forest of Lori plateau and Bazum mountains, Stepanavan is considered a resort town in northern Armenia.
Etymology
Stepanavan was founded in 1810 as Jalaloghli, literally meaning son of Jalal in Turkic languages. The name is derived from the Armenian noble family of Hasan-Jalalyan. A khachkar-memorial in the town testifies that the settlement was founded in 1810 by prince Davit Hasan-Jalalyan. In 1923, Jalaloghli was renamed Stepanavan, meaning town of Stepan in Armenian, in honour of the bolshevik leader Stepan Shaumian.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Stepanavan” is town in the Lori Province of Armenia. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Stepanavan, town and Lori, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “town in the Lori Province of Armenia” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Place names and jurisdictional language are key evidence: both can reveal earlier catalogue descriptions and overlooked record series. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 1, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q39678. VIAF identifies the subject as 125904395. The Library of Congress control number is no2009181380. Authority coordinates are 41.008, 44.387. 3 of 5 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2011, 2016, 2022 and 1810.
Architectural summaries often privilege surviving fabric and can understate demolished phases, contested use or displaced communities. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Stepanavan”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Stepanavan primary sources, Stepanavan archive and Stepanavan research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Stepanavan”?
- Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Stepanavan” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.