Recently, the owner of Dolmama restaurant, Jirair Avanian, announced in a press that in the territory of “Dolmama” and its neighborhood, the wine makers have found historical and culturally interesting constructions that should be preserved. He also added that his fight is not for merely “Dolmama” but the preservation of the historic site that can provide tourists’ flow to Yerevan.
In an interview with Aravot.am, Chairman of the Union of Winemakers, Candidate in technical Sciences, Avag Harutyunyan, confirmed Jirair Avanian words, “Yes, generally the 19th century Yerevan is hard to imagine without a wine cellar and a wine press. It is the face of Yerevan irrespective of where this house is located: in the center of the town or outside the center. This is the facial features of the city. In addition, I should note that the more we approach the center, the bigger are the cellars and the winepresses become more beautiful. This was particularly noticeable after 1860’s when there was an inflow of capital to Yerevan. Today’s Buzand Street, Arami Street, Pushkin Street where Dolmama is located, all of them had cellars behind the buildings and very often, these cellars were connected with each other by small tunnels. Currently, such several cellars are preserved in Buzand Street: small and connected by tunnels,” said Mr. Harutyunyan.
He said that in late 1880’s, the house two buildings from “Dolmama” to the Sakharov Square was bought by an Armenian winemaker Nerses Tairov, who had several houses in Yerevan. “Specifically this house that is located in the neighborhood of “Dolmama” was different from the others that it had a very nice cellar and a winepress. Tairov used to live in that house though he was not making wine there as it was made in a factory, it was just a nice symbolic. Now, the basement is preserved. We were thinking to apply to the government not to demolish it.”
Gohar HAKOBYAN
