Originally an ancient village on a hill at the northeastern outskirts of Yerevan, Avan has been inhabited since pre-Christian times.

The district is unofficially divided into smaller neighborhoods such as Avan blocks, Avan-Arinj and Aghi Hank.

Due to its location at a higher area, Avan is known among the districts of Yerevan for its clean atmosphere.

In 591, John of Bagavan built the Holy Mother of God Katoghike Tsiranavor Church in Avan village as the seat of his unrecognized Catholicosate.

By the mid-1960s, within the original plan of Tamanian, new cheaper Soviet apartment blocks with more than five stories were constructed at the outskirts of Yerevan, including the districts of Avan and Nor Nork.