Yerevan: memory and forgetting in the organisation of post-Soviet urban space 1

In 2008 Yerevan celebrated its 2,790th anniversary, marking the foundation, in 782 BC, of the Urartian fortress Erebuni, out of which, as Yerevanites understand it, their city had emerged and from which it had inherited its name. And yet, in Yerevan, the practice of urban construction has never been directed at preserving the city’s long history: the majority of Yerevan’s ancient structures have, as a rule, over time been erased and built upon. While the Communists destroyed religious buildings, today’s enthusiastic architects are meting out punishment to the city’s civic edifices (although this division of targets is itself somewhat provisional).