Armenia: Cherish the moments
12:24 PM
My last day in Armenia
It saddens me that this is my last day in Armenia, but I am happy to have made new friends, explored the vast richness of this country, and have felt the warm welcome of the people and the memories worth keeping.
My last stop is...
The Mother of Armenia Statue ; The Cascade ; The painting and Souvenir Shopping
Mother Armenia is a female personification of Armenia. Her most public visual rendering is a monumental statue in Victory Park overlooking the capital city of Yerevan, Armenia.
The current statue replaces a monumental statue of General Secretary Joseph Stalin that was created as a victory memorial for World War II. During Stalin's reign of the Soviet Union, Grigor Harutyunyan, the first secretary of the Armenian Communist Party's Central Committee and members of the government oversaw the construction of the monument which was completed and unveiled to the people on November 29, 1950. The statue was considered a masterpiece of the sculptor Sergey Merkurov. The pedestal was designed by architect Rafayel Israyelian. Realizing that occupying a pedestal can be a short-term honour, Israyelian designed the pedestal to resemble a three-nave basilica Armenian church, as he confessed many years later "Knowing that the glory of dictators is temporary, I have built a simple three-nave Armenian basilica". In contrast to the right-angled shapes of the external view, the interior is light and pleasing to the eye and resembled Echmiadzin's seventh-century St. Hripsime Church.
In spring 1962, the statue of Stalin was removed, with one soldier being killed and many injured during the process, and replaced by the Mother Armenia statue, designed by Ara Harutyunyan.
"Mother Armenia" has a height of 22 metres, thus making the overall height of the monument 51 metres, including the pedestal. The statue is built of hammered copper while the pedestal-museum is of basalt.
The Mother Armenia statue symbolises peace through strength. It can remind viewers of some of the prominent female figures in Armenian history, such as Sose Mayrig and others, who took up arms to help their husbands in their clashes with Turkish troops and Kurdish irregulars. It also recalls the important status and value attributed to the older female members of an Armenian family.
Its location on a hill overlooking Yerevan makes it look like a guardian of the Armenian capital. Every year on 9 May, thousands of Armenians visit the statue of Mother Armenia and lay flowers to commemorate the Armenian martyrs of the Second World War. The pedestal hosts the Mother Armenia Military Museum of the Ministry of Defense. When first built it housed a military museum dedicated to World War II. Today, a large proportion of the exhibition space is devoted to the Nagorno-Karabakh War of 1988–1994. On display are the personal belongings, weapons, and documents of participants, and the walls are decorated with their portraits. Among other historical artifacts, there is a map on which Armenian forces worked out their campaign for the capture of Shushi.
Now, we go to Cascade. If you don't know, Cascade is near the Statue. Thanks to Jerald, he said I just need to go down some flights of stairs and I will reach Cascade faster and he was right.
I started from top going down.
The Cascade is a huge white stairwell built into a Yerevan hillside in the 1970s, with water fountains running down them, all reminescent of a natural cascade in a river or stream. It connects the central district to Haghtanak Park and the Monument Neighborhood.
Although its original intent was as a monument, beginning in the 1990s the Cascade was home to a very progressive discotheque. Currently, in the summer months, the area becomes a hot spot for entertaining the general public with many free outdoor concerts. Performers include some of Armenia's most popular musicians, as well as groups from abroad.
The Cascade is emerging as one of the focal points in Yerevan, similar to the Republic Square. It offers spectacular views of Mount Ararat and the city center. It is also popular for foreigners to jog on. Many tourists are often unaware that the structure has escalators so that they do not have to climb the stairs all the way to the top.The structure was privatized by Gerard Cafesjian and the top is the site of construction for the Cafesjian Museum of Contemporary Art. Some statues by various artists have already been brought in and placed all along the monument, including works by Lynn Chadwick, Barry Flanagan, Stanislav Libensky and Jaroslava Brychtova, and Paul Cox. There are two statues by Fernando Botero a black cat at the bottom and a Roman Warrior at the top platform.
Outdoor art installations below Cascade.
Tour bus at Yerevan.
And for the last time, I wanted to see the opera theatre, North avenue, the swan lake and the republic square. This was my home for the past 4 days. And although it breaks my heart to leave this country. I need to go back to reality.
The Opera theatre in detail...
The swan lake...
I bought some souvenirs before I head back to my hotel.
Appreciating the modern and old architectures of Armenia...
For one last time, seeing the fountain show breaks my heart. I have mixed emotions leaving...
Thank you for the wonderful memories. For the experience of a lifetime. For the new found friends. And for making me realize that If you have a dream, go and make it happen.
I will miss this place. But one thing is for sure. I will come back. And that's a promise.
I will never say goodbye, because saying goodbye means going away. and going away means forgetting. But I will say see you later....
Thank You Armenia.
- Bry
(All photos are owned and copyrighted by Bryan Fetalvero. 2015 All Rights Reserved. Unauthorized use, editing, reproduction, publication, duplication and distribution of the digital photos without explicit permission is punishable by law.) 
0 comments