GARNI CONTROVERSY: ACTIVISTS PROTEST CONSTRUCTION OF CAFE NEAR ONLY PRE-CHRISTIAN-ERA TEMPLE IN ARMENIA

SOCIETY | 03.03.14 | 15:30

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By SIRANUYSH GEVORGYAN
ArmeniaNow reporter

Passions are heating up around controversial construction of a cafe in
the territory of the Historical and Cultural Reserve-Museum in Garni,
which is some 30 km to the east of Armenian capital Yerevan.

On Sunday, a group of young people removed the sand and road-metal
from what had been turned into a construction site near the Royal
Bath area at Garni, the only preserved pre-Christian temple in Armenia.

They brought a few sandbags to Yerevan and put them in front of the
Ministry of Culture building as a sign of protest directed against
Minister Hasmik Poghosyan, whom activists hold responsible for allowing
the controversial construction.

The young activists also warned that if the ministry fails to halt the
construction in the territory of the unique historical and cultural
monument, they will take more serious steps. They did not elaborate.

The Garni Castle dates back to the 3rd-2nd centuries BC, and the
Greek-Roman temple built in the first century BC, which is the
compositional center of the castle constructions, is the only pagan
temple to have been preserved in Armenia after the country adopted
Christianity in 301 AD. It was ruined in a 17th-century earthquake,
but was restored during 1969-1975.

The Ministry of Culture explains the construction of a cafe near the
monument by the need to develop tourism, at the same time giving
assurances that the revenues made by the cafe will be directed at
the repairs of the paved road leading to the ancient site.

“Today our cultural-historical and natural heritage should work
for the benefit of tourism development, we have no other way,” said
Minister Poghosyan.

Not only environmentalists who usually protest in such cases are now
against the construction at the Garni Temple, but also residents of
the nearby community, its mayor, as well as a small group of Armenian
pagans, who hold their rites and rituals inside this temple. These
people point out that in accordance with the Armenian legislation,
construction in the territories of historical-cultural monuments is
prohibited. Besides the archaeological site has not been fully explored
yet, and construction work could heavily damage the different cultural
layers that are present there, they argue.

Member of the Armenian Aryan Union Armen Avetisyan even went as far
as comparing the construction of a cafe in the territory of the temple
to building a cafe in the yard of the Echmiadzin Cathedral.

In response, representatives of the Ministry of Culture announced that
no permanent construction was being carried out in that territory,
while the cafe would be of a seasonal and portable nature, meaning
that it will be operating only from May to October. It stressed that
the cafe construction project was, therefore, not illegal.

Director of the Historical-Cultural Reserve-Museum and Historical
Environment Conservation Service state non-commercial organization
Vladimir Poghosyan cited as more proof the findings of archeologists:
“There are no remains of cultural layers and buildings in the area
in question.”

Member of the Public Council, Director of the Armenian Genocide
Museum-Institute Hayk Demoyan, meanwhile, does not share this opinion.

“Even those who have superficial knowledge of archeology realize that
the location chosen for the cafe is just eight meters away from the
bath built in ancient times and will be built in an area that is four
meters higher than the bath,” Demoyan wrote on his Facebook page. “It
means that if the cafe is built, it will endanger the cultural layer
relating to a period from the late Middle Ages to the Neolithic Era.

Explanations about attracting tourists to the ancient site and getting
some money from it are beneath criticism. Simple math calculations
show that those who visit the Garni site during the tourist season
ensure a daily revenue of $1,000 to $1,500, which is not a small sum
and is quite sufficient for improving the area.”

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress