HISTORY The city of Alaverdi (18395 v., "Allah gave" in Turkish) owes its existence to the rich copper mines nearby. Systematic exploitation began around 1780, with Greek miners brought in to supplement the conscripted labor of local villagers. The mines benefited the Argutinskii-Dolgoruki noble family, which claimed descent from the Zakarian princes. Members of this family, serving the Czar as military officers or Armenian archbishops, were central to the annexation of the Transcaucasus. At one point, Alaverdi was allegedly the source of one quarter of the Russian Empire's output of refined copper. In the 1880s, the concession was sold to a French company, but the skilled miners remained primarily Greek. The collapse of the Soviet economy has contributed substantially to cutting the once terrible pollution the works generated.
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