The museum building is in dire need of repair, never having been renovated since it was first built. It started to crumble in 1997, first the roof, then the floor. And now the walls are following suit. When it rains, water trickles into the interior of the building. According to museum director Seda Hambaryan, the museum is neglected by the government and there is no help.

"The artifacts in our museum are unique proof of the development of Armenian culture in Javakhk. There's a summary here of the history of Javakhk, so we need to care for and nurture the evidence of our history," explained guide Marina Ghazaryan.

The museum opened its doors for the first time in 1958, with about 1,500 artifacts. The official opening wasn't until 1973; there were then 4,088 artifacts. The oldest artifact is an astronomical calendar from the Bronze Age. Despite its poor conditions, the number of visitors to the museum has actually increased in recent years. The entrance fee is 20 tetri (about 50 drams or 10 cents) for adults, and 10 tetri for schoolchildren.

"To safeguard these treasures, we need to renovate this museum. This is very important for our culture, but the ministry of culture doesn't want to help us," the director said.

Seda Hambaryan first asked the ministry for help in 1997. She hasn't received any reply to the letters that she sends every year. Twice, the issue of the museum has come up during regional government meetings. In 2003 a program was outlined to renovate the museum, at a cost of 25,000 lari. But the program never made it off the page. "There are no resources in the regional budget," went the explanation.

Hakob Hambaryan, who heads the regional government's culture department, confirmed what the director had said, and added that the museum's management, not expecting any help from the government, had opened a bank account for donations in Akhalkalak's national bank in 2005. "We hoped that our citizens would help us to rebuild the museum, but so far not a single penny has been donated," he said.

The museum also appealed to Ilya II, the patriarch of the Georgian Church, as well as to various businessmen, all to no avail.

The only help so far has been 300 laris ($150) donated by Georgia's first lady Sandra Rulovs. The money was used to heat the museum. The museum's last hope is a US-based Armenian charity organization that has promised to provide funds for renovation.