WONDERING AROUND YEREVAN: MASHTOTS AVENUE

Mashtots Avenue is one of the main streets of the city. At one time, it was lined was small, two-story houses, and was simply called Armenian Street. Later, it was renamed Sundukyan Street, and after restoration, it became Stalin Avenue. Its name was highlighted with a gigantic statue of Stalin that towered above the avenue. It was the biggest statue of Stalin in the USSR. When Stalin was no longer popular, his statue was dismantled, and the avenue was given a new name-Lenin Avenue. This name remained until the 1990s.

Locals tend to simple call the street Prospekt ("avenue" in Russian) not bothering to mention who it's named after. Originally, this may have been because the names bore no special significance to them.There were certainly no warm feelings toward Stalin, and they were rather indifferent toward Lenin, too. But even now that the street is named after Mesrop Mashtots, the creator of the Armenian alphabet, many people stick to the standard and continue calling the avenue, well, Avenue.

When you walk along this part of Yerevan, you'll be accompanied by sycamore trees that grow all along the avenue. It's almost impossible to imagine the center of Yerevan without these trees. During the cold winters of 1992 to 1995, many trees were cut down in Yerevan and only the sycamores remained untouched because nobody dared cut down these special trees.

Mashtots Avenue starts from Haghtanak (Victory) Bridge, which you'll cross coming from Zvartonts Airport. The avenue stretches for two kilometers up to the Matenadaran Institute of Ancient Manuscripts. The first thing you'll see as you cross the bridge is the majestic St. Sargis Church, founded in 1450 and reconstructed in 1835-1842, which rises over the very edge of the Hrazdan Gorge. Until the second half of the 20th century,it was one of the most unattractive churches in Yerevan.

Both its exterior and interior did not correspond to its status as the seat of the Ararat prelacy, so in the 1970s it was restored and partly redesigned by architect Raphael Israelyan. Now,it is one of the favorite and most frequently visited churches in Yerevan.

On the eve of the feast day of St. Sargis, the patron saint of lovers, the church is especially crowded. Young people gather in the churchyard where according to tradition, salty cookies are served. Legend has it that ifa girl or a boy eats a cookie and doesn't drink any water before going to bed, they will dream about their future spouse at night.

Not far from the crossroad of Mashtots Avenue and Grigor Lusavorich Street, you'll see the splendid Covered Market (architect Grigor Aghababyan, 1952). Nowadays, almost all markets in Yerevan have a roofs over them, but the name covered' is strongly associated with this particular market for it was the first to be covered.

This market is a must-see not only for the delicious produce within it, but also for aesthetic reasons. The building is impressive, both in terms of size and design. The main part of the ceiling is 32 meters wide, and it is covered with 19 breathtaking arches. The area of the market is 2300 square meters. Besides trade and utility rooms, the building also used to house an inn a library, a post office, newsstands...basically all sorts of services for the convenience of the vendors. The counters are covered with a delicious variety of produce, spices and other goods. Although nowadays, trade in the Covered Market is not as brisk as it used to be, you can still experience the aroma and feel of an eastern market, enjoy the wide range of its colors and of course, buy something to remember it by. The market is particularly good in the fall, when splendid baskets full of fruits and stalls with dried goods appear. Actually, you can buy dried fruit here year-round.

When leaving the market, you will undoubtedly see a building that stands out due to its unusual architecture and color. It has no connection to Armenian architecture but has been an inseparable part of Yerevan since the 18h century. It is the Geok Jami, which means Blue Mosque. Hussein Ali Khan, aruler of the Yerevan khanate, had the mosque built from 1765-1766. It was a functioning mosque until the beginning of World WarI In Soviet times, when not only Christian, but also Muslim sanctuaries were demolished, they managed to keep the mosque. Revolutionary Yeghishe Charents played an important role in this. He offered to move the Yerevan History Museum there at the beginning of the 1930s.

Not far from the Covered Market, at the intersection of Mashtots Avenue and Saryan Street, you'll see the Museum of Modern Art (architects Aramyan and Jim Torosyan). It was founded by art historian, Henrich Igityan, in 1972. Its opening ceremony became an important event in the life of the city. While in Moscow, exhibitions of artists that dared to go against the norm were literally bulldozed, here in Yerevan, the most unexpected and daring works of young Armenian artists were proudly exhibited. There are almost 2,300 exhibits in the museum collection nowadays and among them are works of art by Martiros Saryan, Minas Avetisyan, Harutyun Kalents, Rudolph Khachatryan, Vagharshak, Henrich and Robert Elibekyan, Jansem, Garzou, and many others. Though Café Argishti has long been replaced by an electronics store, old poet Yerevan residents still use the Argishti as a meeting place, out of habit. This café was situated on the first floor of a block of flats and there were constantly noisy gatherings here. Still, none of the residents thought of kicking people out. Currently, the only thing preserved from the former café is a statue of a woman. It is an Armenian caryatid and they used to jok she held up the whole building on her fragile shoulders.

The first floors of almost all the buildings on Mashtots Avenue are occupied by shops, small restaurants and supermarkets. In the endless row of establishments, there is one that stands out. It is Maternity Hospital #1 also known as the Markaryan Hospital, which was built in the 1940s. Its official name is the Scientific and Research Center for Mother and Child Health. On its walls, there are some monumental sculptures, of mothers with their children. The sculptors' message was probably to highlight the exalted, divine meaning of motherhood. Every day in front of these sculptures you can enjoy a prosaic cute scene called "expectati0n". Happy husbands wait for their wives to appear with the babies in their arms through the windows of the hospital. Before there were cell phones, people used to call out to each other loudly, and as a result, the whole Avenue learned about the birth of another Yerevantsi.

In front of the Maternity Hospital, you'll see the House-Museum of Yeghishe Charents, a cult Armenian poet who was arrested during Stalin's purges in 1937. The museum was founded in 1964, in the apartment where Charents had lived. His personal possessions, manuscripts publications, and his private library, which consists of 1,415 volumes, are on display here.

The section of Mashtots Avenue from the Maternity Hospital to the Opera is the noisiest and most chaotic stretch. There is a change in the street atmosphere and even the general mood of pedestrians. When approaching the Opera, the Avenue changes again: now a touch of class and snobbery is added. And Mantashov Beerhouse, named after the famous early 20th century oil baron, adds to the prestige.

Following a municipal initiative, thousands of people often gather in French Square to watch major football matches and other importan events on big screens.

After passing the public garden near the State Conservatory, you will find yourself in front of the Smoking Shop, where you'll find a wide ran of cigars,pipes, blends of tobacco and smoking accessories. On the second floor, there is an elite club. In this universe, it is practically forbidden not smoke. Historical figures, from Winston Churchill to Che Guevara, stare at you from the walls. Naturally, all of them are smoking.

After a smoke break you can continue on your way to a beautiful early 1950s on." Happy building made oforange tuff stone, which still bears the name Nairi Cinema, though films are not shown here anymore. It inherited the name of the oldest cinema in the city, which was opened in 1920 on Amiryan Street. Now, this cinema is rented out as commercial space. However, there is still hope that the cinema will once again be used for its original purpose.

If you go on walking towards the building of the Matenadaran, you will appear at a cafe most loved by locals, which has gone down in history as the Ponchikanots ("Doughnut Café"). Several generations of Yerevan students have enjoyed tasty, mouth-watering (and well-priced) doughnuts here. The café is still quite popular. There is one more Ponchikanots now, next to the old one. Today, they are children's cafés, with bright and joyful interiors. The doughnuts are still delicious and the main clientele consists of students and children. Across from this building, there is a puppet theatre and a small bookshop that carries rare books. The Yerevan Chamber Theatre is situated at the very end of the Avenue, among numerous branches of the

, former Polytechnic Institute,one of the largest higher educational institutions in Armenia. There are famous sweet shops here, too, with big, delicious and tastefully decorated cakes, plus all sorts of pastries and pies Last but not the least is the Matenadaran, an ancient manuscript repository which towers above Mashtots Avenue. It is named after Mesrop Mashtots, the creator of the Armenian alphabet to whom Armenians owe their preservation as a nation. Both the avenue and the repository bear his name. When the street bore Lenin's name, there was a gigantic profile of the Soviet leader on the slope of the hill. But time has passed, things have improved and only eternal values have remained.

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