A tragic history lies behind Yerevan’s determination to forge a new identity and Armenia’s diaspora are on hand to help. Carole Corm reports
Our city is very old, but to us it is very new,’ says Emmanuel Houhanissian, a musician at the Armenian State Orchestra, commenting on Yerevan’s current facelift. Few cities, or for that matter nations, have as acute a sense of history as does this one. Founded in 782BC, around the same time as Rome, it is precariously close to Turkey, Iran and Russia, and survived years of occupation, maintaining a strong identity against the odds.
When the Iron Curtain finally fell and an independent republic was proclaimed, Yerevan was crumbling. Suffering chronic energy
shortages, the city was barely receiving two hours of electricity aday. Bu if the 1990s felt like the Middle Ages, the new millennium has ushered in the Renaissance – powered in great part by Armenia’s wealthy diaspora returning to help the homeland get
back on its feet.
You do not have to go far to notice the changes in Yerevan. Anyone who lands at Zvartnots International Airport encounters
gleaming new buildings partly thanks to the financial help of Argentinean-Armenian billionaire Eduardo Eurnekian. Toone side stands its derelict, architecturally fascinating.
This way to the future: major projects such as the creation of Northern Avenue (above) are sweeping away the Soviet aesthetic soviet ancestor, a giant concrete spider the authorities would do well to preserve.
It takes only 15 minutes to reach the city from here on the recently renovated highway, a gift from Kirk Kerkorian, one of the most famous and wealthy American-Armenians – he used to own MGM film studios – and one of the first to invest in his native homeland. On the capital’s outskirts, the highway is fringed by casinos, with names such as Super Nevada and Mirage; an ode to kitsch in the dry plains of the Ararat valley and perhaps a nod to the American billionaire himself, who owns gambling establishments in Las Vegas.
Just before crossing Victory Bridge on the way to the city centre you pass the Yerevan Brandy Company. Ever since Winston Churchill attributed his longevity to drinking Armenian cognac, the factory tour has been a must for visiting heads of state. Like many other things in Armenia, the brandy is named after Mount Ararat, the biblical mountain upon which Noah and his ark are said to have come to rest after the deluge. The 5,137m mountain, a national symbol for Armenians, is now located in Turkey. It provides a telling reminder of history for Yerevanis who, on a clear sunny day, have a good view of its towering majesty. The mountain was ceded to Turkey in 1921 following the Turkish-Armenian war and the subsequent Soviet occupation of Armenia.
Across the bridge is Yerevan’s historic centre; the work of Alexander Tamanian, a gifted architect and city planner who drew up the capital’s circular shape in the 1920s. By then Armenia was already a satellite communist nation, but Tamanian managed to save Yerevan from the excesses of the Soviet aesthetic. With its green belt, its opera and its attractive Republic
Square, built in varying shades of the local orange and pink tuff, a volcanic rock, Yerevan presents a more delicate interpretation of the Soviet city. he communist past is fading rapidly today. Dozens of cranes rise above the city. Construction sites are everywhere, the most obvious being the bulging hole that lies beneath the Victory Park promontory, home to Yerevan’s most ambitious cultural project, the Gerard L Cafesjian Museum of Contemporary Art.
This monumental art complex, financed by Gerard Cafesjian, another wealthy Armenian-American philanthropist, is intended to put Yerevan on the international art map. Cafesjian hopes the museum will do for Yerevan what the Guggenheim Foundation did for Bilbao and Spain’s Basque region. Built on the site of the Cascade, a monumental (and now derelict)
Soviet-era staircase that linked the upper part of town to the centre, the project includes the rehabilitation of a vast escalator into an interactive exhibition space. In addition, an 80m-glass tower is to be built to house Cafesjian’s impressive art collection, which includes works by Picasso, Chagall and Miró.
The Gerard L Cafesjian Museum of Contemporary Art will provide a focus for visitors in the coming years, not that Yerevan is lacking in cultural hotspots. The National Gallery on Republic Square houses a great collection of European and Russian Art, possibly the best among the ex-communist satellite states, and three floors dedicated to Armenian painters, indicating a proud tradition of art.
‘When we think about Armenia, we think about Saryan,’ says Rouzan Saryan, director of the Martiros Saryan Museum, named in honour of her grandfather, the country’s most.
‘We have never copied anyone, not even the Byzantines who tried to force us to be like them. That is just the way we are.’
famous painter. The museum celebrated its fortieth anniversary in 2007, with a series of events aimed at promoting the so-called ‘Armenian Matisse’ to the outside world. hen the Soviets arrived in Yerevan in the mid 1920s, they ordered that all historical and religious buildings were to be blown up. There were a few exceptions, including St Sarkis, a small church near Saryan’s home that he managed to save. To replace the dynamited buildings, the Soviets created alternatives such as the National Opera, a large circular building completed in the 1930s.
On a winter saturday the place is bustling with teenagers – a famous Russian singer is in town. Walking in pairs, Yerevani girls wear tight-fitting trousers with colourful stiletto boots, while the boys are in head-to-toe black. The new interest in fashion – that has seen designer boutiques pop up along Abovian Street, and the launch of Yerevan Fashion Week – is a sure sign that the city’s fortunes are changing.
While Yerevan is building a new character for itself, its people have not forgotten the past. The most poignant testimony to Armenia’s history is the Genocide Memorial, a powerful series of monuments built overlooking the city, which has a moving museum beneath it. It commemorates the estimated 1.5 million victims of the Armenian Genocide, who were killed between 1915 and 1918 on the orders of the Ottoman Empire.
‘Armenia went through some difficult times, but as you can see today, there is construction everywhere. Yes, Yerevan is losing its old face, but this is what people want,’ says Artyom Grigoryan, head of the office for the preservation of historic monuments.
And, while Yerevan might be stepping into a more consumer-driven, more internationally led era, it still retains its individuality. ‘This is our character,’ says Zaven Sargsyan, one of Armenia’s most prominent photographers. ‘We have never copied anyone, not even the Byzantines who tried to force us to be like them. That is just the way we are.’
WHERE TO STAY
The Marriott Hotel is on
Republic Square.
Tel: (+374) 1059 9000
www.marriott.com
Where to eat
Our Village
A rustic restaurant offering
traditional dishes. Its band
plays Armenian folk music
throughout the week.
5 Sayat Nova Street
Tel: (+374) 1054 8700
Going out
Malkhas Jazz Club
One of Yerevan’s more
trendy nightspots offering a
range of live jazz acts.
52 Pushkin Street
Tel: (+374) 1053 5350
Shopping
The most interesting and fun
place to shop in Yerevan is
Vernissage, the city’s flea
market, which sells everything
from books, douduks
(traditional wind instruments)
and jewellery, to
carpets and clothes. It is on
Biuzand Street – off Republic
Square (weekends only)
HOW TO GET THERE
BA, Lufthansa and Air France
all fly to Yerevan.
www.britishairways.com
www.lufthansa.com
www.airfrance.com
MORE INFORMATION
Armenia Travel offers guided
tours of the city an d nearby
sites of interest.
www.armeniatravel.am
