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Together with First Lady of Armenia Rita Sargsyan and Armenian Minister of Culture Asmik Pogosyan, Svetlana Medvedeva visited the National Art Gallery and the Armenian National History Museum in Yerevan.

Russia’s First Lady toured Armenia’s two main museums, which share the same building on Republic Square in central Yerevan.

Deputy Director of Armenia’s National Art Gallery Asmik Arutyunyan told Svetlana Medvedeva that the establishment of the art gallery and Armenia’s other museums, as well as putting together their collections, was closely tied to Russia.

Svetlana Medvedeva examined a collection of paintings by Ivan Aivazovsky (1817–1900), an outstanding Russian seascape painter of Armenian origin, as well as the works of other well-known Armenian artists.

At Armenia’s National History Museum, the First Lady of Russia examined the exposition called From the Paleolithic to the Bronze Age, featuring thousands of pieces discovered during archeological digs in Armenia over the last hundred years.

Among the History Museum’s other exhibits, Svetlana Medvedeva was particularly interested in a decree by Empress Catherine the Great on establishing Novaya [New] Nakhichevan (currently one of the districts of Rostov-on-Don) in Russia in 1779 and an order by Alexander I issued in 1802 on confirming privileges for Armenian residents of the city.

Ms Medvedeva also examined the exhibition of traditional Armenian dress, lace, carpet weaving, and pottery.

Russia’s First Lady thanked her tour guides and presented the museums with books about the Moscow Kremlin.