In the heart of Yerevan, just a stone's throw away from Republic Square, lies a hamlet that is completely hidden from the view of foot traffic on adjacent Abovyan and Nalbandyan Streets, between which it is wedged. The hamlet, once an active, thriving community, has already fell victim to the haphazard construction boom taking place throughout the city's center, as about 80 percent of it has been demolished. As is anticipated, by mid-March the entire historic neighborhood will be utterly destroyed.

To date about 50 homes have been completely ripped out. Approximately 1,000 residents relocated to parts unknown. They were given sums of money from a private developer, the sums of which they did not reveal to others. Although the price per square meter of land in central Yerevan is averaging $1,500, residents living in neighborhoods slated for demolition are paid a fraction of their property's actual worth.

Albert and Ophelia Vartanian

Ophelia Vartanian has been living in the neighborhood since 1953, when she moved from Tbilisi at the age of 22 to marry her husband, Albert. She worked for over 30 years in the food market that had occupied the first floor of the apartment building at 3 Nalbandyan Street since its completion until it finally closed in 2002. Now she lives on an insignificant pension of a few thousand drams.

"We're expected to leave here, but as soon as a contract is given to us to sign, once we have agreed on a price. But we haven't heard anything because the guy's taken off."

A Syrian-born businessman known as Avedis, last name unknown, who lives in the United States but conducts business in Armenia is responsible for developing the land, with the aim to build at least three high-rise apartment buildings on the property.

"If he is not an Armenian citizen, then he's got to have connections with people at the top to do what he wants here. What other excuse is there?" Albert stated.

However, the developer Avedis recently left the country on suspicion of mishandling funds related to the construction. But bulldozers were still at work clearing land as seen on February 4.

"I don't feel sorry for him. He's doing alright. He can do what he pleases because he has the means to do so," Albert added.

Hundreds of families were either evicted from their homes or paid off to leave on Arami and Buzand Streets in the city's center-two of the oldest streets in Yerevan that contained buildings from or even before the turn of the century.

The Vartanian home was originally a horse stable when modern Yerevan was still in its infancy, then was converted to a residential home. But the structure is so old no accurate date of construction can be placed. Over the years the house was expanded and now accommodates three families-just about 15 people in total.

When Ophelia and Albert moved to their new home, the wide, five-story apartment building situated on 3 Nalbandyan Street, which until now served as a protective barrier for their neighborhood, was just being constructed. Many of the hamlet's residents then moved into the building's apartments, while newcomers replaced them in their old homes.

Ophelia explained that many of the families were happy to receive payment to leave their homes. "Some houses were in bad disrepair. People were using cartons to fix up their homes. They weren't living well." But she could not say where the families ended up living as she was not informed.

Once upon a time, a neighborhood

Not all houses around the Vartanian home have been destroyed. A few still remain that are situated only 100 meters to the right. One home still manages to stay intact, despite the fact that the tiny houses surrounding it were smashed apart. Because of lack of plumbing its residents must frequent an outdoor toilet, its door affixed with a lock. Just beside it a public tap runs continuously so that the pipes do not freeze. The water is used both for drinking and washing, at times the basin serving as a kitchen sink. From the few walls that stand of the house husks serving as monuments to lives past, remaining residents tear out all wooden studs to use as firewood. In demolition nothing is spared.

The hamlet is part of a larger area described as Old Yerevan, stretching from the neighborhood known as Kond located on the left side of the city to as far east as Hanrapedutyun Street. All of these small districts will eventually be destroyed, along with it the city's history from the last 150 years or so.

The homes in the hamlet are given the common address of 3 Nalbandyan Street, although the same address is also given to the apartment building. The quarter was then arbitrarily divided into sub-addresses for purposes of distinction. However, visitors to the neighborhood would simply ask residents for directions to someone's home, since address markings did not exist on any structures there.

Alongside Arami Street just behind the National Museum and Art Gallery lie a few locked sheds once serving as businesses. The owner of one booth still makes copies of keys. A few vendors were setting up tables displaying various items for sale, including shoelaces, batteries, and power plug adapters. One family lives in a shed formerly used by an optician, relying on a small wood-burning stove to keep warm, the walls covered in soot as they use anything they collect that will burn, including foam packing materials.

Other old apartment buildings can be found just behind the shops that line the left side of Abovyan Street but are totally out of site by pedestrians. Both the shops, contained in historic buildings themselves, and the houses behind them will also be demolished to accommodate the new buildings to be constructed, but whether they will in fact be built anytime soon still remains unknown.

Four years ago the Vartanians were informed that they would soon have to leave and would be paid about $5,000. Then recently they were told that each person in the family would receive an individual payment. However, Albert and Ophelia's oldest son's wife and children are not officially registered as residents of their home, thus they are not entitled to receive payment.

The Vartanians find it useless to seek legal action since recent lawsuits filed against the authorities by residents to protect their rights have resulted in suppression by intimidation, beatings, or arrest. Last October public defender Vahe Grigoryan, who was defending residents of Buzand Street, was arrested on allegedly trumped up charges of extortion and forgery of documents by the National Security Service (aka KGB) and was reportedly beaten. He may receive a conviction of up to 10 years in prison.

Ophelia does not want to leave, nor does anyone else in her family, including her ninth-grade grandson. But they realize that eventually they will have to clear out.

"If I'm not offered an amount that's high enough to buy a new home somewhere else, then I'm not going to sign a contract, if that even happens," Ophelia explained. "Why should I give up my home if there is nowhere else for me to go?"

Christian Garbis 
Photos by Onnik Krikorian

Christian Garbis is a freelance writer based in Yerevan, Armenia.