ERIVAN, or Irwan, in Persian Rewan, a town of Russian Armenia, at the head of a province of the same name, is situated 3430 feet above the level of the Black Sea, on the Zengui, Zanga, or Hrastan, an affluent of the Araxes, about 171 miles S.S.W. of Tiflis by road. The old Persian portion of the town consists mainly of narrow crooked lanes inclosed by mud walls, which effectually conceal the houses, and the modern Russian portion is laid out in long ill-paved streets. On a steep rock, rising about 600 feet above the κiver, stands the old Turkish fortress, surrounded by ditches and earthen ramparts, and containing within its area part of the palace of the ancient Persian governors, a handsome but greatly dilapidated mosque, a Greek church of modern erection, a cannon foundry, and barracks. One chamber, called the Hall of the Sardar, bears witness to the former splendour of the palace by its pictorial decorations, which include legendary and historical scenes from the lives of Zal and Rustam, of Abbas-Mirza and Nadir Shah. The finest building in the city is undoubtedly the mosque of Hussein Ali Khan, familiarly known as the Blue Mosque from the colour of the enamelled tiles with which it is richly encased. At the mosque of Zal Khan a yearly passion play is performed illustrative of the assassination of Hussein the son of Ali. Besides the episcopal church of St Sergius (Sourp Sarghis), the Armenians possess five churches, a monastery, and a seminary. Several hundred travellers can be accommodated in the new caravanserai; and there is a club which in some degree makes up for the absence of hotels. The bazaar, though extensive, is poorly supplied with goods; and the only manufactures of the town are a little cotton cloth, leather, earthenware, and blacksmiths’ work. The ...