Yukhari Akhta is a village in the Novo-Bayazid uezd of the former Iravan governorate, later in the former Akhta (Hrazdan) district, in the present Kutayk province. The provincial centre is located 5 km to the southeast of the town of Akhta (Hrazdan), at the foot of Inakdagh Mountain and at a height of 1,900 m above sea level. It was marked on the five-verst map of the Caucasus.

The original inhabitants of the village were Azerbaijanis. From time to time they have been exposed to massacre by Armenian armed groups and expelled from their native lands. In 1828- 1829 the Armenians from Khoy, Maku, Salmas provinces of Iran and from Türkiye were settled in the village. As a result, the number of Azerbaijanis was reduced. The village was inhabited by 30 Azerbaijanis in 1897. At the beginning of the 20th century the Azerbaijanis were completely ousted from their native lands. At present, the village is inhabited only by Armenians.

The toponym was coined by combining the word “yukhari” denoting a distinctive feature and the ethnonym “Akhtachi” attributed to a branch of the Padars, one of the Oghuz tribes.

By the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Armenian SSR dated 25 January 1978, the village was renamed “Lernanist”. According to the law “On the Administrative-Territorial Division of Armenia” dated 7 November 1995, it was integrated into the administrative territory of the Kotayk province.

Geographic coordinates: latitude 40°28’ N., longitude 44°47’ E.