Der Zustand der Festung Erebuni ist lächerlich, die Gravuren auf unseren eigenen Denkmälern sind peinlich.

Average Armenian remembers Erebuni fortress only when some Russian idiots make porn there

Erebuni has a lot more going on than other monuments. The museum is good quality, and the monument itself is closed off from those who don’t pay (though I’m sure this is not perfect). There are warnings about safety with the cliffs. The staff there are kind and knowledgeable, and there was a beautiful black street dog who guided me around the fortress itself when I visited.

I’ve been to other monuments and historic sites in Armenia that didn’t have so much as a plaque explaining what they were. The country is young and dealing with competing priorities. I know graffiti is disappointing, but it’s often part of the historical story of the place (look at this graffiti on the colosseum for an example: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/article/130129-roman-italy-graffiti-colosseum-archeology-photo). Armenians have a lot to be proud of, and, hopefully as the country continues to develop, there can be more investment in natural and historical parks.

Erebuni is heart of Yerevan

I was the most disappointed when I went to Geghard and climbed up some rocky hills to get into some caves and that secondary building you see on the side of the mountain. Carvings of who knows what and graffiti absolutely everywhere. This coupled with garbage absolutely everywhere in Yerevan. Yes, Kentron is relatively clean because there are workers who clean the streets, but once you go slightly out, all you find are wrappers, bottles, cigarette butts, plastic bags…it’s everywhere and it’s disgusting.

Graffiti and garbage is a problem I see everywhere in the world, but it seems to be 10x worse in Armenia. By far the most disappointing thing in my trips for me.

I even mentioned the littering to my gg driver. His response was “amot mezi”, and within minutes, was getting ready to throw his newly opened pack of cigarette wrappers out the window. When I called him out on it, his response was “vochinch, it’s just a small thing”.

Unfortunately, this isn’t going to change overnight and it’s sad to see.

The hell? And they supposedly put a description of the fortress where you can literally read nothing because the writing got screwed up. What’s the point? We don’t really protect such places. Not to be pessimistic but I expect buildings like these to disappear within 10 years or so just like the way many old sites and building have disappeared in Yerevan.

If there’ll be a campaign to clean the place I’d gladly enjoy. And there should be a fine for littering. Մինչև ջեբներին չկպնես, ուղեղները չի մտնի։

It’s in a state where you even feel bad recommending it to anyone

and here we are, asking the savages next door to keep our monuments intact… it’s a fucking joke