Cascade Tour

Right behind the statue of Alexander Tamanyan, the architect of central Yerevan is the famous Cascades. This massive staircase that connects central Yerevan to Victory Park is scented by flowers growing on multiple levels. Each level of Cascade presents statues from world-known sculptors such as Lynn Chadwick and Fernando Botero, cross-stones, and a wider scene of the city.

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​Cascade Yerevan is the beating heart of the city. It is where the youth gathers for drinks, it is where all open-air concerts are held, it is where you can capture the best panorama of Yerevan. Cascade’s benefits are probably countless.

The construction of Cascade began in 1971 and it was partly completed in 1980. However, since then, the monument was undergoing renovations to become more appealing and more unique. The final and current form of this staircase-formed monument has been standing there since the last phase of renovation in 2009.

It is important to note that Cascade does not merely refer to this colossal stairway. The whole district, or rather the “patio”, that lies behind Yerevan’s chief architect Alexander Tamanian’s statue, is the very Cascade we know. It is from that wide hallway patio that you get the feeling of what Cascade is all about – modern art.

Due to the Armenian-American businessman and art collector Gerard Cafesjians’s investments and connections, Cascade has become a valuable open-air and free-access modern art museum. Artists like Fernando Botero (Colombian sculptor), Lynn Chadwick (British sculptor, one of the giants of 20th-century art), Barry Flanagan (Welsh sculptor), Stanislav Libensky and Jaroslava Brychtova (Czech couple), Paul Cox (English sculptor), Jaume Plensa (Spanish Catalan artist and sculptor) are featured at Cascade, and all passers-by have a chance to enjoy their masterpieces for free, just during your morning or evening walk.

If we look at Cascade as a building, we can claim that it has several floors. In each storey, the building exposes distinctive pieces of art and conveys a unique mood. On every “floor” there is also an inside hall, with different contemporary artworks and automatic escalators. There are more free-access museums inside the building, including a free-access modern art museum store, temporary exhibitions of famous Armenian and international artists, and on the top, one can find the Swarovski Crystal Palace Museum.

Cascade has been everyone’s all-time favorite not only because of these high-end valuable artworks but because of the fantastic view of Yerevan that one can enjoy from the top of Cascade, with Mount Ararat standing behind Yerevan’s iconic pink buildings.