Yerevan: ontdekking te voet

Yerevan was een van my grootste verrassings.  Ek het beplan om daarheen te reis sodat ek berg Ararat kon sien, maar wat gewag het was net buitengewoon mooi / opwindend / uitstekend.

Lees en sien meer by:
http://www.adventurous-travels.com/2013/07/yerevan-armenia-pink-city.html

Hier volg net 'n paar fotos geneem tydens 'n stap deur die weldeurdagte uitleg van die binnestad:

                                                Die laggende kiwi naby die Cascades

                                               Die Cascades is 'n gesig om nooit te vergeet nie.

                                         Die Cafesjian kunssentrum waar die Cascades gelee is.

                                          'n Soetigheid aan die einde van die aandwandeling

                                     Die roosverkoper - op straat - werk tot laataand


History of Yerevan began in the eighth century BC when the fortress of Erebuni was founded in 782 BC by king Argishti I. Since then, the Armenian capital has been one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. Yerevan, due to its location was always the center of battles, invasions and clashes by its neighboring empires - Arab, Persian, Ottoman and Russian. The city was leveled to the ground several times not only by invaders but also by natural disasters like earthquakes. Not much of ancient Yerevan has been preserved to this day. The ruins of the Erebuni fortress that give testimony of the greatness of Armenian culture and history are one of the few examples. After the first world war, Yerevan was a small town with only around thirty thousand inhabitants. The survivors of Armenian Genocide started to come back to their fatherland and settle there. In the twentieth century, Armenia became a part of the Soviet Union and Yerevan expanded rapidly during those times. The population grew to around one million within a century. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Armenia didn't handle the transition from communism to free market economy very well and many factories, state farms and other forms of industry stopped operating causing many problems in the country's economy. Nowadays, Yerevan is being reconstructed and it reminds a big construction site. There are many new investments in the area although the level of poverty and the shadows of past times of the Communism Era are still clearly noticeable. However, don't let this discourage you from visiting Yerevan in Armenia as it has a lot to offer culturally and historically (more than you would expect from such a small country), not to mention beautiful scenery and nature.