“Look at these houses at the foot of the mountains! Here lived the Aparajyans, Shavroyans, Yakubyans, and many others, your brothers, sisters, and mothers by blood. That was hundreds of years ago.
People have a short memory, but the earth does not forget anything. It keeps traces of our ancestors, our Armenia.”
“Armenia?” asked surprised Aram, “But Armenia is no more, uncle Hovhannes!”
He raised his hands towards heaven. His face lit up with lively radiance.
“My boy, Armenia is not just a geographical concept. It exists while there are still Armenians. Remember how many conquerors have come to subdue and intimidate us? They have destroyed our homes, ruined our fields, but they haven’t managed to destroy our memory. The memory of Armenians is immortal, know about this.
The Armenian kingdom became the first Christian state in history, an island of faith in the ocean of paganism. It was one and a half thousand years ago, even more. And today? We are still here in our land, and we hold our faith more than ever before.
The Etchmiadzin Cathedral, the king of all Armenian churches, is still standing. Patriarch Noah himself has got drunk from the wine of our vineyards!
When Noah was in the Ark and the top of Ararat appeared before him, he exclaimed: ‘Yerevants! It appeared!’”
“And hence the name ‘Yerevan’? But this is a legend, right?”
“Who knows? But if you want to remain a dreamer, always prefer the legend to reality.”
Enthusiastically, Hovhannes listed, “Armavir, Kars, Van, Ani, Artashat, Dvin, Etchmiadzin — that’s how many capitals we’ve had! And there will definitely be one more. Everything happens to Armenians, even the unthinkable!”
Excerpt from the book “Yerevan” by Gilbert Sinoué
