Gyumri, a city where great people were born and contributed to various fields. I can name the names of Hovhannes Shiraz, Ashugh Jivani, Georgi Gurdjieff, Avetik Isahakyan, and thousands of great people who were born in the capital Gyumri.
The people of Gyumri are known for their humor, patriotism, tradition, and ingenuity. Even books on humor have been published, including Hrachya Ikilikyan’s “Gyumri, Poloz Mukuch – Satirical Details”.
Tourism is developed in Gyumri, especially in summer. Surveys show that they are more interested in historical and cultural sites and monuments. Gyumri is rich in historical and cultural sites and monuments; Here are some of them.
- The Church of the Savior
- The monument to the girl with the shovel
- Hollywood Yard
- Girls’ school
- Balcony of “Varem-marem”
- The source of Alexandropol
Some of the mentioned buildings are in deplorable condition today. Let’s talk about “Hollywood Yard”, or as the people of Gyumri often call it, “the Armenian of cinema”. 7 films were shot in the yard. It is impossible not to have watched at least one movie from there: “Happy Bus”, “Tango of Our Childhood”, “Dawn of a Sad Street”, “A Piece of Heaven”, “Song of the Old Days”, “Triangle”, “Heghnar Aghbyur”. The building was built in the nineteenth century, belonged to a high-ranking Russian officer. Some rooms of the office building were rented by Russian figures who were hosted in Gyumri in 1840-1850.
Currently, about ten families live in the yard. While visiting, I talked to the locals. I will present excerpts from the conversations: the oldest resident said that there were shots in the movies when they also took part in the filming, and when I asked if there was a memory on the other side of the camera that impressed him, the following was the answer. is ahead, but singled out one shot as the best memory – playing rose; For most of the residents, this shot was the most memorable, they added, “despite the small size of the yard, dozens of more people came to play with the rose.” The resident singled out a memory that did not leave a very positive mark on her memory: taking Frunzik’s will and bringing it back. When talking about the building, there was sadness in the eyes of the resident: the building is in an emergency and may collapse completely during earthquakes. He mentioned that living in that building is obligatory, three or four groups of tourists are received in the yard every day, they are often entertained. He told a case when one of the tourists said, “I have always dreamed of sitting in this yard and drinking coffee.” The guest did not finish speaking when one of the residents went to get coffee. What time of day do you want to go to that yard? The yard is very clean.
Tourists in the “Hollywood Yard” The building needs restoration work, but the state can not help. During the visit of the Prime Minister, when the residents asked for help in the reconstruction of the building and the yard, he said: is:
“Bring wealth to all of you, not create a problem, this is wealth in itself,” said the Prime Minister.
As a young resident of Gyumri, I came up with a plan, which is as follows:
Place a box in the yard, which will be completely covered with footage of the films shot there, tourists, citizens of Gyumri, who want to support the restoration work, will put their solution in the box. Let me mention that the residents will support me in this issue with construction issues.
One such program – we can be staging in that area with new actors from old movies – all the proceeds will be donated to the restoration of the yard.
The article was written by Lamara Abrahamyan, a participant in the first round of the “Article Contest” organized by the “Restart Gyumri” Initiative Center NGO.
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