loosavor: Yerevan

_{Kond, Yerevan 2006, photo by Vahan Bego}

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Vahan:

Kond is a city within a city, a kind of enclave. Kond means 'pole' and maybe the neighborhood takes its name from all the poles that punctuate its streets. Kond is a kind of slum area, but it's very unique. Normally slums are found on the peripheries of cities, they spread out from the edge. But Kond is slapbang in the center of Yerevan, just a two-minute walk away from where all the development is going on. Kond is where you can get a sense of what old Yerevan was like. It has an odd beauty, even though the amenities are scandalous. Some of the buildings date back to the seventeenth century, and you can see how buildings have been carved out of other buildings, how newer buildings have been built on top of older ones. Kond is a problem for the authorities. Even the communists - who were not exactly timid when it came to urban planning - didn't know what to do with Kond. It has just been left alone. Kond can a bit dangerous for outsiders - there are criminal elements here. But basically its an enclave, the people from Kond are proud, they keep themselves to themselves. Like I say, a city within a city.