Ancient architectural, construction and cultural findings have always fascinated and continue to amaze us. The director of historical and archaeological museum-reserve “Erebuni” Mikael Badalyan told us about the recent excavations near the ancient hill Karmir Blur. - We are closely cooperating with the construction company building the North-South highway on the matter of the site connecting Shirak street with Argavand highway, where fragments of clay utensils were found. As a result, construction work on this site was suspended and we began control preventive excavations, as a result of which we were able to fix archaeological layers, containing different ceramics, where in the same context the “Urartian elite” and the local, so-called “polished” ceramics are combined. Besides, another structure was excavated with regular rows, parallel to each other, made of crushed stone, filled with river pebbles … This can be a wall or part of a tomb, or a platform … Also we found in the layer the bottom of a clay amphora. Obviously, they made a hole to place this amphora in the layer of river pebbles … The amphora may have been intended for cremation or other purposes. The main thing is that we have discovered a layer of human activity of the 7th-6th centuries BC on the outskirts of Karmir Blur. - And how many layers are there on the territory of Karmir Blur? - There are layers of pre-Urartian and Urartian periods, as well as structures of the late Bronze and early Iron ages, with semicircular and square layouts, on which the people of Urartu used to build their houses in the 7th century BC. In 2019, together with Armenian-Austrian expedition, we managed to fix also a post-Urartian layer, which I consider to be a very important achievement … In addition, there is a fairly rich medieval layer. In the upper part of Karmir Blur there was a chapel, that did not persist. Most likely, it was a medieval chapel. Initially, Karmir Blur - as a monument of the Urartian period, was known for this chapel... And I would not be surprised if it turns out that this chapel was built on the base of the Urartian Susi temple, as we found the cuneiform cornerstones of the Susi temple in Karmir Blur. In addition, coins of Georgian Queen Tamara and medieval ceramics were discovered. The interesting fact is, that few years ago we decided to plant cedars in front of the museum building. Digging the holes, we came across pottery and stopped digging. It turned out that it was a pottery of Kura-Araxes period, dating back to the 3rd millennium BC. - Could the find during excavations be the basis for changing this part of the North-South project? - Yes, it could, if we found a serious monumental structure… This could be a tomb, palace, castle, some piece from prehistoric period. After all, Yerevan is a mosaic that is not fully known to us. … In general, very few excavations have been carried out on the territory of Yerevan. Mostly these are accidental discoveries. For example, ancient Urartian tomb near Yerevan-mole was discovered in 1984, when during the construction of auto parts factory the builders found several slabs. Another accidental discovery is Dzoraberd fortress next to Mergelyan Institute.

The State Urban Development Committee announced an international open architectural and urban planning tender for reconstruction of Kond district in Yerevan. It was proposed to organize a professional working group, which will include architects, urban planners, economists, sociologists, lawyers, representatives of public relations and mass media (including journalists), artists, sculptors, ethnographers, historians, non-governmental organizations, as well as active and responsive residents of Kond and other interested or competent people who can help with the implementation of the project with their advice. Of course, listening to the opinions of all interested parties is not bad, especially for experts, but the opinion of residents of Kond is also important. And, of course, one of the priorities to be the issue of providing residents of Kond with housing on site. Since Kond is the historical district of Yerevan, it is necessary to carry out excavations and launch research before the start of the tender, and meanwhile, research and excavation can take many years. A result of similar rush has been the Youth Palace and Ferdowsi Street, the fate of which is still unclear. Of course, it would be highly desirable that the Kond reconstruction project fully reflects the atmosphere of Armenian architecture with 2-3 story buildings. That does not mean, that we are against the creation of trade and entertainment centers. We simply propose that all these structures should be designed in the spirit and according to the rules of Armenian architecture of this era. For revitalizing the district it is proposed to include the following plan in the conceptual draft: organization of access to all entrances to the area, development of an information system aimed at facilitating communication within the area, specialized cafe, visitor information center, workshops, studios, work areas, media center, gift shops and exhibition halls, open air and indoor venues for events, shops, guest houses, catering establishments, public baths and premises for temporary accommodation of the guests. Meanwhile the tender for reconstruction of Kond district of Yerevan was announced twice many years ago. Along the perimeter of the rectangular garden, it was planned to restore the surviving 2-3-storey old buildings, to use Armenian cuisine for restaurants, cafe, tea houses, attractions, games (including national ones), art clubs, etc. In the park, artists could paint and exhibit their paintings. It could be like Armenian Montmartre. However, this project was also cancelled, and the announced tender is the third attempt. Let’s hope that this attempt will be successful and finally we will get reconstructed, renewed and renovated face of one of the Yerevan’s old district – Kond.

Yerevan Children's Railway will not lose its architectural and cultural values. This is not a presumption, but a statement made by the Municipality of Yerevan. We were somewhat worried about the proposal to build a parking and a fitness center to renovate the children's railway, which was more like a business plan that would completely distort the spirit of the Children's Railway. Therefore, we made an enquiry from the Municipality about what construction work will be carried out and how true our fears were. We were told that there were several investment proposals for the modernization and expansion of the territory of the Children's Railway, which were considered by the interdepartmental commission on programs requiring a comprehensive urban planning solution. As a result, it was decided that the construction works on the territory of the railway are inappropriate, except for consolidation, restoration, repair and landscaping. The good news is, that the residents will not be deprived of their favorite park, which from generation to generation conveys the vivid memories of our parents, being a small green oasis in the dusty center of our capital. Children’s railway is connected to the city center by two tunnels. According to the plan of the chief architect of Yerevan Alexander Tamanyan, the Hrazdan gorge was supposed to serve as a recreation zone, the clean air of which was supposed to reach the city center through the tunnels. Two 400-meter tunnels were built in the 1940s and were designed as military shelters. Unfortunately, after the independence declaration, the attention is paid mostly to modern solutions, rather, than Armenian traditional architecture. To preserve this unique piece of national architecture, the Municipality made a decision to keep the appearance of Children’s Railway. It is noteworthy, that the first tunnel was cleaned in May, and very soon the second tunnel and all the stations of Children’s Railway will be cleaned and put into operation. The official opening of Yerevan Children’s Railway took place on 6th of July 1937. The idea of opening the railway belongs to Aghasi Khanjyan, the chief architect is Mikael Mazmanyan. In the late 1940s, the wooden building of the station was replaced with a stone one designed by the architect Gohar Grigoryan. According to the witnesses, there were German prisoners working on the construction of tunnels. The people used to give them bread, and the prisoners made wooden dolls for them as a sign of gratitude.