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Sara Petrosyan

Syunik's Bardzravan: Villagers Leaving This Alpine Hamlet for Work in the Mines

Deep in the forests of Kapan, there’s a quaint little village named Bardzravan (High Place), probably due to its lofty perch in the mountains of Syunik.

The village is surrounded by a field of meadows and one is immediately reminded of the alpine pastures of Switzerland or Austria.

Despite the picturesque landscape, every second residents talks about leaving the village.

The boarded up houses along the streets tells you that many have already left. In 1997, there were 150 or so people that called Bardzravan home – just half that remain today.

Only seven children answer the call of the school bell. Four are about to graduate. Grades 5-10 have no pupils at all.

School principal Edik Hovhannisyan says that no children are being born in the village. “The young men don’t get married because no prospective brides want to come here. Those that do, only last for a year or so. They leave and sometimes take their families,” he said, adding that 7 families have left in the past few years.

Village Mayor Onik Avagyan said that prior to 2000, nobody had left the village.

“The young guys stayed and waited for some kind of work. When jobs weren’t created they left. You can’t force them to stay and farm or raise livestock,” the mayor commented.

Onik Avagyan has served as the mayor for the past 15 years and points to the school as the main reason for the exodus. He says that parents don’t want to send their kids to such a school.

A new school building was in the works but the economic crisis hit and the plans remained on paper. The current school was built in the 1930s and last renovated in 1997.

“Now it doesn’t make sense it build a new one for just seven pupils. We can’t even keep good teachers here. One teacher has to give lessons in two or three subjects,” said Mayor Avagyan.

He quickly boasted that in the past eleven years, 15 graduates from the village went on to get a college education.

Mayor Avagyan is hopeful that tourism can bring in some much needed investment to the village.

“We have the 4th century Bgheni Noravank and the Saint Minas Church built in 1821,” he tells me.

While the village is rich in pastures and arable land, only a small portion is actually under cultivation according to the mayor.

“If we had the equipment, we could plant some 200 hectares instead of the 40 right now. Who knows, next year that number might well drop to 25.”

Principal Hovhannisyan laments the fact that many villagers now seek their fortunes in the mining towns of Kajaran and Kapan.

“Today, villagers are fleeing the land. Everything is bountiful here but they want to get factory work.”

He said that of the three livestock stables of the Soviet era only one was ever privatized. It only holds 15 cows even though it has a capacity of 200.

Animal husbandry was the main employment field in the Soviet period.

Mayor Avagyan fondly remembers the “good times” of the 1980s.

Despite the presence of all the necessary conditions for redeveloping the animal husbandry sector, especially with the rise in meat prices, government funded development programs have overlooked the field.

Comments (2)

Avetik Krpeyan
Dzer gyuxe korcanvuma,bayc duq noric irar haka baner eq xosum,gone mianaq u vorosheq te inchpes prkeq hrashq Bardzravane. Minchev chtoxneq dzer gorozutyune cheq karox gyuxi het kapvac harcere luceq. Es cankanum em erku koxmerinel xonarhutyun u harganq dimacini nkatmamb. Maxtumem dzes uj u erand Bardzravan gyuxe prkelu hamar.
Անժիկ
Սառա ջան, հոդվածդ լավն է... Իսկապես հրաշք է Բարձրավանը: Այն Շինուհայրի մեր տնից երեւում է. կարծես ափի մեջ: Որոտանի կիրճի այս կողմից ես երբեմն երկար-երկար նայում էի Բարձրավանին ու... ինձ թվում էր, թե դա աշխարհի դրախտային վայրերից մեկն է... Շատ գեղեցիկ է, բայց վախենամ, որ այն պատմություն է դառնում, ինչպես այդ տարածաշրջանի որոշ գյուղեր են դարձել:

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