YEREVAN: CITY OF PARADOXES

An old Armenian is on his deathbed. "Listen closely children," he says. They lean in, ears straining. "Above all else, treasure the Jews." "Why the Jews, father?" they ask. "Because once they've been dealt with, we'll be next!" he says.

—Russian joke

When arriving in Yerevan, you should bear in mind that you are about to explore a city of paradoxes, starting with its history. Throughout its history, Armenia has had many capitals. One after the other, these capitals were established, they flourished, were destroyed and were deserted.

Yerevan is the 12th capital city of Armenia. Armenians hope and wish that this capital will be a lasting one and that the paradox of “wandering” centres of Armenian statehood will disappear.

Yerevan is 2792 years old, but at the same time, it is one of the youngest cities of the world. The city’s chronology is traced back to the foundation of the Erebuni Fortress, whose walls still remain. With Erebuni as a reference point, Yerevan is in fact 29 years older than Rome. In addition, many churches and temples have been preserved attesting to the fact that there was life in Yerevan in the Middle Ages. Nonetheless, Yerevan is a modern city, and its current image was formed in the mid 20th century.The next paradox of the Armenian capital is that although it was mostly built in its current incarnation during the Soviet era, the city still possesses a distinctly Armenian character and spirit. During a time when a so-called “universal Soviet-style” was the widespread norm across the Soviet Union, contemporary Armenian architects revived medieval Armenian architectural traditions, giving the facades of new buildings a unique flair. Though it cannot be overloaded that during the last decades of the USSR, thousands of unremarkable buildings were built in the typical Soviet style in different districts of Yerevan, if you look closely, you’ll notice that here and there that indestructible passion of Armenians toward their own national style shone through. Even sculptures commemoration important Soviet events took on national and sacred characteristics. Like its buildings, the population of Yerevan is also full of paradoxes. Armenia’s capital is practically a mono-ethnic city. When Armenia gained statehood in the early 20th century after 800 years of existence without an official homeland, the small out-the-way town of Erivan was deemed the capital. The town quickly grew, with new streets, avenues and squares. And its population grew due to a massive inflow of Armenian immigrants. In fact, the population of Yerevan has grown almost tenfold during the last 100 year. Today, it has reached over one million. Surprisingly, having mostly come from different places in Armenia and around the world, residents of Yerevan, without exception, call themselves Yerevantsis, They all speak the Yerevan dialect of Armenian, using their native dialects only in the home. So when speaking to a Yerevan resident, you never really know where he or she comes from originally. Each town and city of has its unique geographical feature. But Yerevan is special- it has a secret. In keeping with the paradoxical nature of this city, on the one hand, you cannot overlook this secret, but on the other hand, you can only truly understand it if you live here for a while, walk in the parks and streets an talk to the residents.

The secret is Ararat. Great and ancient, perfect during every season. Understand Ararat and you will understand Yerevan and its people. The emotions that this majestic mountain arouse are difficult to put into words. You simply have to feel it. While it is a splendid marvel of nature, there is more to it than that. Ararat is the guardian of Yerevan. It is the mountain that smiles to the city during its happy days and protects it in difficult times. And it is Mount Ararat that unites everybody here: Armenians who have gathered from all over the world at the foot of their sacred national symbol. They have built this city of the sun- for themselves, and for their guests, so that they may always remember and feel the warmth of this city, the warmth of Yerevan.

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