175-year-old cellar, unique sample of winemaking history, to be demolished (video)
There is an old wine cellar in the cellar of house at Pushkin 4/5. The cellar of the house was built 175 year ago. Soon this building will also be included in the list of buildings to be demolished according to the decision of the Government. “I know that grapes were brought on donkeys and camels, filled and came through a pipe, there was a grape masher and the jugs were filled with grape juice, and it became wine by itself without covering or stirring,” says Karen Grigoryan, son-in-law of the house owner.
According to decision of the Government the territory was recognized an eminent domain and “Local Developers” company belonging to Samvel Mayrapetyan was recognized an acquirer. A multifunctional building must be built here. “It may sound funny, but it is the same as someone decides to demolish the Cheops pyramid in Egypt in order to build a multifunctional territory. It is a unique sample of winemaking history, it is a national value, small national value, where Tairov walked, made wine. It is simply a matter of dignity, if we don’t have dignity, let’s demolish it,” says Hovakim Saghatelyan, Director of “Trinity Canyon Vineyards”.
According to the words of Avag Harutyunyan, President of Union of Winemakers, the best solution must be the mixture of old and new, “Let them recognize it an eminent domain and build whatever they want, but the projects must maintain the existing as much as possible, in particular, one-two floors must be maintained.”
Director of “Areni” festival Nune Manukyan has recently returned from Israel and draws an interesting comparison, “Do you know what was offending, a nation, which rejects Jesus, creates antiquity everywhere, says he was sitting here, he was standing here and sells that antiquity. The matter is that we, as a tour operator, want to have a product in order to sell.”
By the way, an alarm signal installed during the years of war was maintained until recently in that cellar, “When we turned it, the sound reached up to Moscow Cinema. Firefighters took it as a memory,” says Karen Grigoryan. The first dental clinic of Armenia was also at Pushkin 4/5. In order to maintain this historical building the citizens concerned about the fate of Yerevan will apply to Yerevan Mayor Taron Margaryan.
