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  • Garni Controversy: Activists Protest Construction Of Cafe Near Only

    GARNI CONTROVERSY: ACTIVISTS PROTEST CONSTRUCTION OF CAFE NEAR ONLY PRE-CHRISTIAN-ERA TEMPLE IN ARMENIA

    SOCIETY | 03.03.14 | 15:30

    Photolure

    By SIRANUYSH GEVORGYAN
    ArmeniaNow reporter

    Passions are heating up around controversial construction of a cafe in
    the territory of the Historical and Cultural Reserve-Museum in Garni,
    which is some 30 km to the east of Armenian capital Yerevan.

    On Sunday, a group of young people removed the sand and road-metal
    from what had been turned into a construction site near the Royal
    Bath area at Garni, the only preserved pre-Christian temple in Armenia.

    They brought a few sandbags to Yerevan and put them in front of the
    Ministry of Culture building as a sign of protest directed against
    Minister Hasmik Poghosyan, whom activists hold responsible for allowing
    the controversial construction.

    The young activists also warned that if the ministry fails to halt the
    construction in the territory of the unique historical and cultural
    monument, they will take more serious steps. They did not elaborate.

    The Garni Castle dates back to the 3rd-2nd centuries BC, and the
    Greek-Roman temple built in the first century BC, which is the
    compositional center of the castle constructions, is the only pagan
    temple to have been preserved in Armenia after the country adopted
    Christianity in 301 AD. It was ruined in a 17th-century earthquake,
    but was restored during 1969-1975.

    The Ministry of Culture explains the construction of a cafe near the
    monument by the need to develop tourism, at the same time giving
    assurances that the revenues made by the cafe will be directed at
    the repairs of the paved road leading to the ancient site.

    "Today our cultural-historical and natural heritage should work
    for the benefit of tourism development, we have no other way," said
    Minister Poghosyan.

    Not only environmentalists who usually protest in such cases are now
    against the construction at the Garni Temple, but also residents of
    the nearby community, its mayor, as well as a small group of Armenian
    pagans, who hold their rites and rituals inside this temple. These
    people point out that in accordance with the Armenian legislation,
    construction in the territories of historical-cultural monuments is
    prohibited. Besides the archaeological site has not been fully explored
    yet, and construction work could heavily damage the different cultural
    layers that are present there, they argue.

    Member of the Armenian Aryan Union Armen Avetisyan even went as far
    as comparing the construction of a cafe in the territory of the temple
    to building a cafe in the yard of the Echmiadzin Cathedral.

    In response, representatives of the Ministry of Culture announced that
    no permanent construction was being carried out in that territory,
    while the cafe would be of a seasonal and portable nature, meaning
    that it will be operating only from May to October. It stressed that
    the cafe construction project was, therefore, not illegal.

    Director of the Historical-Cultural Reserve-Museum and Historical
    Environment Conservation Service state non-commercial organization
    Vladimir Poghosyan cited as more proof the findings of archeologists:
    "There are no remains of cultural layers and buildings in the area
    in question."

    Member of the Public Council, Director of the Armenian Genocide
    Museum-Institute Hayk Demoyan, meanwhile, does not share this opinion.

    "Even those who have superficial knowledge of archeology realize that
    the location chosen for the cafe is just eight meters away from the
    bath built in ancient times and will be built in an area that is four
    meters higher than the bath," Demoyan wrote on his Facebook page. "It
    means that if the cafe is built, it will endanger the cultural layer
    relating to a period from the late Middle Ages to the Neolithic Era.

    Explanations about attracting tourists to the ancient site and getting
    some money from it are beneath criticism. Simple math calculations
    show that those who visit the Garni site during the tourist season
    ensure a daily revenue of $1,000 to $1,500, which is not a small sum
    and is quite sufficient for improving the area."

    http://armenianow.com/society/52406/armenia_garni_temple_cafe_protest_activists



    From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
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