Maralik (until 1925 – Molla-Gyukcha, from 1925 to 1935 – Kaputan, since 1935 – Maralik, was granted with the status of a town in 1996) is located 90 km north-west from Yerevan, on the western slope of Aragats.
The total area of the town is 3,34 km2. As of the 2017 census, the population of the town is 5400.
When the Persian and Turkish empires no longer ruled Eastern Armenia (1826-28), 59 families (371 people) from the settlements of Western Armenia – Mush, Taron, Khnus, Verin Basen, Alashkert, Erzurum settled in Maralik. Currently, Armenians form the majority of the population, with a small community of native Russians as well as the Yazidi ethnoreligious group.
Maralik was an active industrial town during the Soviet period. Textile industry, production of construction materials and agriculture are developed in Maralik now. The town is located on the road between Gyumri and Yerevan. It is also connected with the nearby towns and villages through a network of regional roads.The Maralik railway station is located at the eastern vicinity of the town.
The town has 2 public schools, musical and art schools, a sport school, a secondary specialized educational institution, preschool establishments, hotels and a culture house.
Maralik literally means little deer in the Armenian language. According to a local traditional legend, every year, a mountain deer would willingly approach the Saint Stephen Monastery of the town to be sacrificed. The villagers were catching the deer and sacrificing it in honor of Saint Stephen. However, once a hunter killed the deer with his rifle. Since then, no more deers were seen in the area. The village was named Maralik in memory of the marals (deers).
The town is home to many historical monuments. The archaeological site at the northeastern vicinity of the town is home to a cyclopean fortress and a settlement, both dating back to the 2nd millennium BC. The Saints Paul and Peter Church, and the Church of Saint Stephen the Protomartyr (both well-preserved from the 19th century), are also found in the town, while the late medieval chapel of Ghushi is located 4.5 km southeast of Maralik. The church of the Holy Mother of God (Red Monastery) rebuilt in 1903 on the basis of a 5th-century church, is found at the southwest of Maralik. Many khachkars, mainly from the early and late medieval periods, are found in the town. A cultural house, a public library, a school of art, and a musical school are operating in Maralik since the Soviet days. A bronze statue of Soghomon Tehlirian was erected on April 22, 2015, at the central square of the town. Maralik is the hometown of the fictional character Petra Arkanian in Orson Scott Card’s Ender’s Game series. SHIRAK
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