Aragast in Gyumri
Our first post-quarantine journey took us to the Shirak region, Gyumri city. Early in the morning, we’ve decided to go through Artik: what a wonderful decision, this road is especially beautiful. On the left side of the road we’ve been admiring still snowy, four-peaked volcano massif Aragats, on the right side, already green and welcoming mountain Ara, and beneath the two endless valleys of beautiful flowers. We’ve seen so many families working on the fields, sowing for spring.
This proud view of Aragats accompanied us all way long to Gyumri, where we were warmly welcomed by our guide Arsen, or more widely known as “The Falcon of Shirak”. Did you know that, whereas in Yerevan having a nickname (an appellation in Gyumri) has some kind of negative context, here in Gyumri one must deserve to have it? So we state that Arsen fully justifies his appellation “The Falcon of Gyumri”.
Our first stop was in a studio where Arsen and his friends do a lot of interesting work. Here we’ve seen the famous carpets made of plastic bottle caps, colorfully designed tops, and teymortaks; interesting logical games. If some of you have forgotten what’s the top and how to play with it, refresh your childhood memories below. Here Arsen demonstrates the “Helicopter” trick.
Continuing the topic of helicopters, we visited a very special place where people do air modeling and a lot of other impressive and important things. In an old, historically very important building a small group of enthusiasts make airplanes and helicopters, they participate in competitions and solve every-day problems. This club was founded by people who deeply believe that the main driving force of development is science and people who do science. Khachatur and others involved, to the best of their ability, educate, develop, and provide long-term employment opportunities for everyone interested. Here we’ve met young people who design and construct airplanes, win competitions, and sometimes, using their knowledge from these practical classes, do other work for local businesses.
We left the air modeling club really impressed and recharged with positive energy. It’s always like this when we visit places, where people are doing their best to create something remarkable and life-changing. They spread light and inspire others. Fully recharged, we continued to the central square. We stood in the middle of the square, right in front of the monument “Vardanank” and made a 360° degrees tour around it. The thing is that Gyumri is such a culturally rich city that it’s possible to discover a whole history without even taking a step.
From here, we continued our journey towards Varpetats street: the street of artists and craftsmen. This was one was the most contrasting street we’ve seen that day; you can see a ruined yet very beautiful building and next to it a newly renovated residential house, whereas on the other side of the street a unique sample of modern art. Farther, almost in front of the Hovhannes Shiraz museum, there is the mansion of the well-known and wealthy family of Drampyans, the house is also called “The House of Good Morning” or “The House of Morning Greetings”. People say that every morning the Drampyans put basic hygiene items, water, towels, food in front of their home, that’s why the house was given that title. As you can also see in the picture below there are medallions in the form of mirrors and towels on the walls.
Continuing our journey in this charming street, we came across the museums of famous writers Hovhannes Shiraz, Avetik Isahakyan, and the one of the beloved and talented actor, proud gyumretsi (one who lives in Gyumri), actor Mher Mkrtchyan.
Well, this view from Avetik Isahakyan’s museum made us travel back in time to Soviet Union times that day :)
The theme of our journey gradually changed and developed around the well-known movies that were shot here. A short walk in Gyumri will make you remember many beautiful and epic scenes from Hayfilm movies. Let us show you several famous locations.
Wandering through the narrow streets, exploring the buildings, their stories, discussing their destinies, we reached Gorky Park. Here, we’ve decided not to miss the opportunity and see the city from the bird’s-eye view. The “Armenia” monument seemed to greet us with its bold and brave posture. By the way, the sculptor depicted the back of the monument in the image of Nemesis, the goddess of divine retribution and revenge, it is also very symbolic to which direction that side of the monument is set to.
Just before leaving the city, we had 2 very pleasant meetings with local families. They presented their art and collections, we on our turn, promised to come back with a larger group next time.
Summing up the trip, I’d like to say that our mission is to visit the purest and the most authentic corners of Armenia, to find people who enlighten others, who have dreams, and work hard to achieve them. We seek to truly and fully discover our country because we do believe that only by this way one can wholeheartedly love its country and make others love it too.
To be accurate, I must say that one can discover and rediscover Gyumri unlimited times, of course, all of us have visited this city on many occasions, however, there are cities that are never fully unveiled. Every time you visit, there’s a high probability of finding yourself in a tiny little yard that you’ve never seen before or a charming balcony you’ve never noticed before, and which is the most important, almost all those places have stories, sometimes forgotten, sometimes destroyed.
In order to fully get the spirit of the city and the people who live there, you certainly need a guide. Not just a random guide, but someone who lives there, who shares the worries and glories of the city and knows every story of every door by heart. Thank you, Gyumri jan for a warm welcome, we’ll be back soon!
Author: Diana Ghabuzyan.