Kond is the oldest district in Yerevan. Kond is in the center of the city, but it is separated from the capital somehow, like a city inside of the city. There you forget, that you are in the center of the city. Narrow stony streets, roads, which are not paved, small houses and silence. Unfortunately, in Yerevan there is few corners of the old city. Almost all the central part of Yerevan was reconstructed during the Soviet Union or during the years of independence.
But there is a small historical district in the center of Yerevan, though tourists know nothing about it. Even the residences of Yerevan want to forget about its existence. It is an island of old Yerevan. Kond is unique by its narrow streets, small houses, which are bent to each other, there is no innovation, it is unique by the existence of an Iranian mosque and an Armenian church, it is unique by its special silence. But in Kond you may see the absence of minimal accommodation- gas, water, toilets, cracks in the walls, crumbling ceilings and people, who live in the worst conditions under the risk to remain under the ruins of their roofs.
Daily Routine of the Kond
Many stories of Kond are told on the stone benches near the houses. We can guess that people living in Kond like such kind of benches very much, as you can meet them in front of nearly every house. In summertime you can’t find any empty bench. Men are playing cards or backgammon, while women are discussing the latest news of the district around a coffee table. Women can very often be found near the water spring, the number of which we couldn’t manage to count. Though nearly each house has the conveniences of a separate water supply, anyway the springs are still actual. As soon as it becomes warmer, women hurry to do their laundry there or just to wash their coffee cups.
The scariest enemy of Kond is fire
Summer is the most awaited season of the year. But as the winter comes and it starts to rain, all the bed conditions of the district become larger. The roofs start to dribble, the paths going to the central roads freeze. But the first and scariest enemy of Kond is fire. Houses are attached to each other, so when there is a fire in one of the houses it spreads to nearby houses and 2 or 3 houses may start to burn at the same time. When talking about the fire, people remember the accident in 1987. They say that while the firemen managed to reach Kond the fire took one man’s life. You can find some shots of that fire in Harutyun Khachatryan’s documentary called “Kond”.
Article from “Yerevan” magazine
Photos by Tigran Shahbazyan
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