Aldere is a village in the Zangezur uezd of the former Yelizavetpol (Ganja) governorate, later in the former Mehri (Meghri) district. The provincial centre lies 86 km to the southeast of the town of Gapan, on the bank of the Araz River, at a height of 600 m above sea level. The settlement was integrated into the administrative area of Armenia after the Zangezur uezd had been established in Soviet Armenia on 31 August 1921. It was marked as Alidere on the five-verst map of the Caucasus. The remnants of the Albans’ 14th-16th century historical monuments (the Alban church, tower, etc.) still remain there.
The village was inhabited only by 131 Azerbaijanis in 1831, 911 in 1873, 1,077 in 1886, 1,094 in 1897, 1,505 in 1904 and 1,987 Azerbaijanis in 1914. In 1918 the inhabitants of the village were deported having been exposed to Armenian aggression. Following the establishment of Soviet power in the present-day Armenian territory, the surviving inhabitants of the village managed to return to their historical-ethnic land in 1922-1924. The place was was solely inhabited by Azerbaijanis: 414 in 1926, 490 in 1931, 601 in 1959, 831 in 1970 and 784 Azerbaijanis in 1979. On 24-28 November 1988 the inhabitants of the village, the Azerbaijanis, were deported from their historical-ethnic land by the state of Armenia. At present, the village is populated by Armenians.
The toponym was formed by combining the word “al” denoting “red” in Old Azerbaijani (it still survives in the expression “üzün allanması” meaning “blushing”) and the word “dere” meaning “a canyon” (“dərin çuxur”) and implies “a red valley”. As the soil of the territory, where the village was founded, consists of red rocks, it was called “Aldere”.
By decision of the Armenian Parliament dated 4 July 2006, the village was renamed “Alvank”. According to the law “On the Administrative-Territorial Division of the Republic of Armenia” dated 7 November 1995, it was integrated into the administrative area of the Syunik province.
Geographic coordinates: latitude: 38°56’ N., longitude: 44°38’ E.
