From April to July 2015, I lived in Yerevan, the capital of Armenia. This was until I left for the city of Vanadzor to intern there for two months. During my time in Yerevan, when I wasn't either interning at the American University of Armenia or on an excursion elsewhere, I explored the city, gradually learning the ins and outs of its streets, discovering little nooks and crannies here and there. That's the kind of thing I like to do when I travel. I'll go and see the big touristy areas, sure, but I like to go off the beaten path. I like to see how the residents actually live. I would venture away from downtown and find myself in random neighborhoods. I took the Metro Train all the way to the end of the line and just got off and explored. You might find that to be a risky proposition in most countries, especially when you don't speak the language all that well, but Armenia is generally pretty safe.
This blog entry will be mostly pictures I took during those four months with some brief explanations. The phone I had at the time was a cheap little thing, so the pictures aren't as high quality as I wish they were, but they're all I've got. Some of these pictures may have ended up on Facebook at the time, but some I haven't shown anyone before. For many of them I have no idea if it still looks the same five years later. But if you're in Yerevan, these might be fun locations to try to find and get to.
This is the hub of the city, where everyone who visits Armenia probably goes at least once. I guess just wanted to show off this pretty picture I took there. It was taken by the fountains in front of the Museum of Armenia. You can see a government building, and a tall radio tower in the distance which is visible throughout the city.
Here it is from another angle, at the roof of the Diamond Restaurant, where you can eat at a table and look down on the square.
Yerevan History Museum
The Yerevan History Museum is a museum dedicated specifically to the history of the city of Yerevan. There's practically a museum on every block in this city.The front of it not only has an etched street map, but a reproduction of the Urartian cuneiform tablet which spoke of the founding of Yerevan (known as Erebuni) by King Argishti in the 780's B.C.
Here's the tablet itself.
Vishapakar
A Vishapakar, or "dragon stone", is an ancient monument which typically were placed near water springs as a form of water worship.This perhaps dates back to the belief that dragons were responsible for hoarding water during the winter months, only for the God Vahagn to force them to give it back to the land with the return of spring. The top depicts the head of a dragon. There are several Vishapakars in Yerevan. This one was near another museum, not far from the Vernissage market and the Republic Square Metro station.I greeted it every time I was in the area, which was often, because the Birthright Armenia office wasn't far away. I do wonder how the Vishapakar is doing these days.
And this is the park right in front of the Vishapakar, where there are many recreations of khatchkars (cross stones) that were destroyed by the Azerbaijani government, which occupies the former Armenian territory of Nakhichevan, in hopes of eradicating the evidence that Armenians once lived there. I suppose rebuilding them is the next best thing. The park is now dominated by a large statue of the revolutionary Garegin Njhdeh, but this hadn't been built yet in 2015. I caught a dance troupe performing on this particular day.
The Sherlock Holmes Cafe
There were a few amusing themed restaurants in Yerevan, this being one of them. It was not on Baker Street but Marshal Baghramyan Avenue, right across from the American University of Armenia and the British Embassy; which is probably the reason the cafe exists. I didn't get a picture of the inside, but it was very classy as I recall and followed the theme. I do wonder if it is still around.
Here is the British Embassy just across the street, for reference.
Dracula Pub
I so hope this place is still around. It was a spooky-themed pub, and was brand new when I was there. It was just down the street from the Cascade Steps. I was thrilled to find it of course, given my love for all things dark and macabre. I remember giving the owner some recommendations for spooky goth music to play, jotting down a list on a piece of paper. Just to be clear, there's no goth scene in Armenia to speak of really, making anything like this popping up in Yerevan a rare oddity.
Cascade
Speaking of the Cascade Steps, here they are. Again, this is hardly "off the beaten path", everyone who goes to Yerevan sees this. It's two rows of tall steps, reminiscent of a Mayan pyramid. Underneath the steps is a must-see modern art museum, where if you don't want to walk up the steps you can cheat and use an elevator. But that's for wimps. You've got to walk up those steps. It's a rite of passage. But, a little-known (and disappointing) fact about these steps is that they're unfinished. After Armenia's independence no one really had the money to finish them. There's supposed to be another museum there whenever it is finished. When you reach the top you're greeted with a big construction pit.
However, if you want to truly conquer the Cascade, you can go around the pit, and keep climbing. Follow a path upward until you get to this tall brick monument with a golden feather at the top; an old Soviet monument to the 50th anniversary of the October Revolution. But, the Armenian eternity symbol and golden feather (which hearkens back to Urartian symbolism) still gives the monument an Armenian flavor. You haven't really defeated the Cascade until you make it up to this.
I was almost at the summit when I took this one. The whole climb took me about an hour as I recall. Yes, I did have to stop and rest.
Classy Jessica Rabbit Street Art
This was a surprising find. Graffiti artists back in America are so lazy. Why couldn't they do something like this more often? It's Jessica Rabbit from Who Framed Roger Rabbit! I don't think the movie is very well-known in Armenia, but that just makes finding this all the more surprising. As I recall, it was on a wall directly behind the Armenian History Museum near Republic Square. The above picture I must confess is actually from my 2014 trip to Armenia, but I found it again after my 2015 trip, where it was still there, but sadly accompanied by less classy graffiti.
Here it is about a year later. So sad. BAH indeed. At least they tried not to spray over it, but still. How unfortunate.I have no idea how it might look today, if it's even there anymore. Graffiti isn't everywhere in Armenia (although it is disappointingly common on historic buildings that aren't churches, for example the Erebuni Museum), but most of the buildings aren't painted, they're stone, which must make removing graffiti a horrible job.
"Dov e, Tigran Grande?"
I'm going to make Yerevan seem really dirty by showing off all this graffiti, for which I apologize, but have a look at this one. A note for anyone from the US who has never left their country: Yerevan, and I'm suspecting many other former Soviet cities, has this incredibly smart idea of building tunnels underneath busy intersections so you don't have to risk your life crossing the street. I have no idea why this is never done in America. Inside these tunnels you might find little shops selling electronics or souvenirs. It was in one of these underground tunnels that I found this.
The picture shows the legendary Armenian King Tigran the Great, who in the 1st century B.C. exploited a power vacuum in the Middle East when Rome and Persia were both weak to stretch the Kingdom of Armenia from modern Israel to the Caspian Sea, bringing Armenia to the zenith of its power. "Dov e, Tigran Grande" is Italian for "Where is Tigran the Great". Why this was written in Italian I've no clue. Near the picture of Tigran the Great is the outline of Armenia with Artsakh, so it is as if Tigran is looking at the current borders of Armenia. It's quite a statement. Whoever did this must be the Armenian Banksy.
A Charlie Chaplin-themed Clothes Store
Charlie Chaplin turned up quite a few times when I was in Armenia. There was also a Chaplin-themed coffee shop in Vanadzor. Perhaps his continued popularity there owes to the fact that translating silent movies is a much easier process than dubbing sound films. No one I spoke to had heard of The Three Stooges or Laurel and Hardy, having instead grown up knowing old Soviet comedians from the same era that I had never heard of. Chaplin overall seems more forgotten in America than in Armenia. I never went into this store, but the bus I took from where I was living to the American University of Armenia would always pass this place, which was somewhere on Komitas Avenue.
Anyway, that's enough raiding of my hard drive for old pictures for now. There will be more in the future. Later this month I still need to talk about what it was like being there for the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. That was an interesting time.
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