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YEREVAN CELEBRATES ITS 2,975TH BIRTHDAY
EurasiaNet.org
Oct 11 2013
October 11, 2013 - 8:25am, by Giorgi Lomsadze
The Armenian capital is throwing a birthday party today. Yerevan
has turned 2,975 years-old, but, like any millenarian, would have
you believe that "the old girl," as one news outlet put it, is still
looking good.
The city, which is believed to have more gray hair than Rome and is
regarded Babylon's peer, is not hiding her age. She is celebrating
it with a song and dance. And a spot of windsurfing.
She's been through it all, after all: a difficult childhood marked by
complicated relations with abusive neighbors; riotous teen years spent
mingling with Persians, Turks and other so-called shady characters;
a mid-life crisis under Tsarist and, then, Soviet rule, and, finally,
a late bloom in her 2,900s, but not without some criticism of her
face-lifts.
"Numerous cafes and restaurants have been built instead of trees and
bushes, often clashing with the surrounding planned environment,"
complained one United Nations Economic Commission for Europe report.
"The most important concept of the city's plan - viewpoints of the
natural environment - has been lost," and the "environmental situation
has drastically declined."
It was all much simpler when Yerevan was a baby, back in the days
before urban development. The city's birth certificate was carved in
stone by Urartian King Argishti I, who is believed to have midwifed
the city into existence by founding a fortress called Erebuni in
that area in the 780s BC. The name Yerevan is believed to be derived
from Erebuni.
Urban legend has it, though, that when the Bible's Noah and his
floating zoo landed on nearby Mount Ararat amidst a flood of the world,
he screamed "Yerevats!" or "Land, ho!"
Whichever the case, few of Yerevan's ancient structures have survived
the ravages of time, wars and architects. The city reinvented itself
several times, until it became the capital of Soviet Armenia and grew
exponentially. The master plan of Soviet architect Alexander Tamanian
transformed Yerevan into a monument of neoclassical or Stalinist
architecture, marked with nods to traditional Armenian ornamentation
and the local, salmon-tinted tuffa stone.
With a population of roughly 1.12 million, Yerevan now remains the
smallest, albeit the oldest, capital in the South Caucasus. Yet,
based on a recent visit, this blogger can attest that she does not
look a century over 2,000.
http://www.eurasianet.org/node/67618
EurasiaNet.org
Oct 11 2013
October 11, 2013 - 8:25am, by Giorgi Lomsadze
The Armenian capital is throwing a birthday party today. Yerevan
has turned 2,975 years-old, but, like any millenarian, would have
you believe that "the old girl," as one news outlet put it, is still
looking good.
The city, which is believed to have more gray hair than Rome and is
regarded Babylon's peer, is not hiding her age. She is celebrating
it with a song and dance. And a spot of windsurfing.
She's been through it all, after all: a difficult childhood marked by
complicated relations with abusive neighbors; riotous teen years spent
mingling with Persians, Turks and other so-called shady characters;
a mid-life crisis under Tsarist and, then, Soviet rule, and, finally,
a late bloom in her 2,900s, but not without some criticism of her
face-lifts.
"Numerous cafes and restaurants have been built instead of trees and
bushes, often clashing with the surrounding planned environment,"
complained one United Nations Economic Commission for Europe report.
"The most important concept of the city's plan - viewpoints of the
natural environment - has been lost," and the "environmental situation
has drastically declined."
It was all much simpler when Yerevan was a baby, back in the days
before urban development. The city's birth certificate was carved in
stone by Urartian King Argishti I, who is believed to have midwifed
the city into existence by founding a fortress called Erebuni in
that area in the 780s BC. The name Yerevan is believed to be derived
from Erebuni.
Urban legend has it, though, that when the Bible's Noah and his
floating zoo landed on nearby Mount Ararat amidst a flood of the world,
he screamed "Yerevats!" or "Land, ho!"
Whichever the case, few of Yerevan's ancient structures have survived
the ravages of time, wars and architects. The city reinvented itself
several times, until it became the capital of Soviet Armenia and grew
exponentially. The master plan of Soviet architect Alexander Tamanian
transformed Yerevan into a monument of neoclassical or Stalinist
architecture, marked with nods to traditional Armenian ornamentation
and the local, salmon-tinted tuffa stone.
With a population of roughly 1.12 million, Yerevan now remains the
smallest, albeit the oldest, capital in the South Caucasus. Yet,
based on a recent visit, this blogger can attest that she does not
look a century over 2,000.
http://www.eurasianet.org/node/67618