On July 13, Pyunik is starting the new season with a match against the Estonian club Narva Trans in the framework of the Conference League. This special home match for us will take place at Abovyan City Stadium. On the eve of the match, we will tell about the cultural richness of the city and key moments in the history of the stadium.

The city grew out of the village Elar. Here, during excavations in the 1960s, the Urartian cuneiform writing of King Argishti I was discovered, proving that the territory had been inhabited since the end of the 4th century BC. In 1961, the village was renamed in honor of Khachatur Abovyan, a writer, researcher of Armenian culture, a reformer of the language and pedagogical system. In 1963 the place received a status of a city. Now on the central square there is an unusual monument to Khachatur Abovyan (1978, S.Baghdasaryan, S. Barkhudaryan).

In the district Saralanj there is a statue of the Armenian king Trdat III the Great, who proclaimed Christianity a state religion in 301. The author of the sculpture is Karlen Nurijanyan. The monument was erected in Abovyan in 1976 and is considered one of the unofficial symbols of the city. It is interesting that the hero of the sculpture is looking at the stadium, and the fans can see him from the western stand.

St. John the Baptist Church is situated in the center of Abovyan. The temple was consecrated in May 2013, with the participation of the Catholicos of All Armenians Garegin II. The Honored Architect of Armenia Artak Ghulyan is the author of the project. The height of the temple is 50 m. More than 40 craftsmen were engaged in stone carving during its construction.

The main sports facility of Abovyan is the City Stadium. It is here that Pyunik will host Narva Trans on July 13.

The stadium was opened in 1966. For half a century, it was called Kotayk, like the team which played its home matches of the USSR Championship and the Cup, and then the championship of independent Armenia there. After the dissolution of the club in 2006, the stadium took its current name and was used by other teams.
The stadium has been renovated in recent years. It was opened after a major renovation in June 2022. Now the City Stadium can accommodate 3100 spectators. It is possible to hold games of the Armenian championship and international matches under the auspices of UEFA and FIFA here.

The stadium has previously hosted matches of Armenian clubs in European cup tournaments. On July 23, 2008, Pyunik played the match of the first qualifying round of the Champions League. Then the Cypriot Anorthosis, which won both legs of the confrontation, was the rival of our club.
In 1998, the Armenia national team played two friendly matches here. On August 18, the national team defeated 1:0 Lebanon, and on November 21 - Estonia (2:1).

Abovyan City Stadium was the home arena for the Armenia national rugby team. In the 2000s, it scored the biggest victories in its history here: in 2004, 48:0 over Israel and in 2008, 25:0 over Serbia.

The match of our favorite club in the Conference League is a great opportunity to get to know the city of Abovyan and visit the City Stadium, our new home for European cup tournaments.