Vahagn choking the dragons statue, Cultural heritage monument in Malatia-Sebastia District, Yerevan, Armenia
Vahagn choking the dragons is a copper monument in the Malatia-Sebastia area that portrays a mythological combat scene. The sculpture shows a figure engaged in struggle, rendered in copper with distinct forms that catch light from different angles.
The monument was created in 1969 by sculptor Karlen Nurijanyan during a period when Armenia looked back to its pre-Christian roots for public memory. This era saw artists turning to ancient mythology as a way to reconnect with the past.
The statue depicts Vahagn, the pre-Christian Armenian god of war, courage and victory, shown as a dragon-slayer. It is one of three Vahagn statues in Yerevan; the others are on Vaghrshyan Street in Arabkir (sculptor Vahe Harutyunyan) and in a park beside the Malatia-Sebastia district hall (sculptor Suren Nazaryan).
Since 24 June 2026 the statue stands on Russia Square beside Yerevan City Hall, not at the old Admiral Isakov–Sebastia junction. It is a 3.5 m, roughly 400 kg embossed copper figure, so look up rather than at eye level. The square is open ground next to the municipality building, reachable on foot from the centre.
The name Vahagn comes from Sanskrit roots connected to fire, linking Armenian mythology to distant Indo-European cultures of the ancient world. This linguistic trace reveals how far back the cultural connections between peoples stretched.
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