On December 7, 1988, at 11:41 local time, the so-called Spitak disaster occurred in Armenia. A terrible earthquake, which in just 30 seconds turned the city of Spitak into ruins. Earthquake in Armenia in 1988 - Spitak catastrophe: one of the worst disasters in the history of mankind. There are several versions of the causes of the incident - some claim that the cause was a secret test of hydrogen bombs.

Figures and facts – Spitak natural disaster

A series of tremors began at 11:41 am. The magnitude of the ground wobble after the first shock and over the next ten seconds reached a limit of 7.2 on the Richter scale. The minimum fluctuations of the Spitak catastrophe were - 6.8 points, on the outskirts of the earthquake affected zone. Powerful tremors destroyed the entire northern part of the Soviet Republic of Armenia in almost half a minute. The disaster affected one million people who were left homeless, without jobs, lost their health or life.

The epicenter of the earthquake was the large city of Spitak (Spitak). The intensity of tremors in this settlement reached 10 points (according to the twelve-point Medvedev-Sponheuer-Karnik scale). The tremors were also significantly felt in other cities of the republic - Tbilisi and Yerevan, where the disaster destroyed multi-storey buildings, left settlements without means of communication, and also significantly undermined the infrastructure.

According to scientists vibrating earthquake wave circled the globe twice! Its activity has been registered even by laboratories in Europe. Fluctuations were also recorded in the scientific centers of America and Australia. Scientists in Asia also became aware of the incident almost immediately after the start of the disaster - the vibration of the earth's crust swept through the whole world.

Regarding people, the human casualties are record high. According to official data about 25 thousand people died as a result of the Spitak disaster. But unofficial statistics are much sadder - they say that the earthquake took the lives of 150 thousand people. Almost 21 thousand of the population remained disabled. At that time, 515 thousand people were left without a roof over their heads. The Spitak disaster is one of the most terrible cataclysms that have occurred in the world over the past two hundred years.

According to Soviet and world statistics, then devastating disaster covered more than 41% of the entire territory of the Republic of Armenia, in one second undermining the economy of the USSR and killing thousands of people.

Damage from the Spitak disaster

If we do not talk about the damage that the disaster caused by destroying residential buildings, then we need to remember that at the time of the Spitak disaster, the Armenian nuclear power plant ceased to function. They barely had time to close it in the first seconds of the earthquake, fearing an accident. As the works of the Armenian NPP claimed, a few more seconds and a natural cataclysm would be supplemented by a man-made accident. After an emergency interruption of work, the reactors were placed in special concrete capsules in storage facilities under the plant. This guaranteed safety, but significantly affected the quality of the industry. One reactor then failed to be lifted from storage.

Ground shaking destroyed about 45% of the industry of the Armenian SSR. The main damage fell on the city of Spitak and 58 villages in the district - these settlements were completely destroyed, all road junctions were unusable. The city of Leninakan (today the city of Gyumri), Stepanavan and Vanadzor were partially affected. In these settlements, after the disaster, about 56% of the industrial potential was destroyed, but the roads survived. Therefore, emergency medical assistance was promptly sent to the scene. Another 300 towns and cities required significant reconstruction.

According to unofficial data, 21 cities and 360 towns and villages suffered from the natural disaster. It is statistically known that 59 villages were completely destroyed, the earthquake razed them to the ground.

Earth vibration statistics published in the Armenian SSR (on a 12-point scale):

During the earthquake, the following were destroyed and completely ceased to function:

Unofficial sources, assumptions - a secret test of hydrogen bombs in the USSR

Experts calculated that in the area of ​​the earth's crust at the time of the Spitak earthquake, the energy released to the outside was equal to the explosion of ten atomic bombs of the Hiroshima-Nagasaki type. Some modern researchers are convinced that an ordinary earthquake in a fairly calm region simply could not physically have such a large energy potential. Modern physicists and seismologists are sure that the Spitak disaster is nothing more than a Soviet secret test of hydrogen bombs.

Unofficial assumptions boil down to the fact that the USSR, in an arms race with the United States of America, decided to invent a unique lethal weapon in response to atomic warheads. After that, a project was developed for unique hydrogen bombs with an incredibly high energy capacity.

According to estimates, given the then technological capabilities of the Soviet Union, one such bomb could have the power of five atomic warheads of the type that were dropped on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. That is, it is assumed that two such bombs were tested near the city of Spitak. It was they who could cause such a strong oscillatory effect of the earth, and also lead to the appearance of a crack at the junction of tectonic plates in Armenia.

But is it beneficial for such a large country, even during the period of perestroika, to test weapons if there is a threat to destroy the infrastructure of the city? After all, the Union later spent, to put it mildly, a lot of money on the resumption of Spitak and the district ... The answers to these questions are ambiguous and are conditionally divided into two camps.

Some physicists argue that the inventors simply did not expect that they could cause an earthquake of such magnitude. And they tested it near Spitak solely because this zone is considered seismically active. That is, they would not have paid much attention to a small earthquake as a result of the explosion. According to the second version proposed by historians and political technologists, the Armenian SSR did not bring much income to the country. Therefore, they tested it there, not being afraid to shake the economic standing of the entire Soviet Union with this explosion.

However, the versions with the testing of hydrogen bombs are not official. Although these assumptions were made public by quite influential people, they were never officially confirmed. Today it is too late to search for the truth, because over the years it has managed to get lost under the rubble of the city, to get lost among the hundreds of thousands of dead.

The official reasons for the Spitak disaster - why are there so many victims?

According to the official assessments of experts from the Soviet Union, the Spitak disaster was due to the following reasons:

How it really happened - the words of eyewitnesses

On December 7, 1988 at 11:41 am local time, the earth shook for the first time. Further, constant oscillations did not stop for thirty seconds. The earthquake stopped in half a minute, but rescue services arrived at the scene only after four hours. According to official data, help was sent immediately, but due to the destroyed roads and the lack of communication links, it could not reach the epicenter of the incident for a long time.

According to eyewitnesses:

The earthquake happened on Monday, it was the first working day of the week at the beginning of the warm Armenian winter. Without suspecting anything, the children went to school, the adults went to their jobs - the city, as usual, was in full swing with life.

At 11:41 a.m., the earth shook with such force that the houses jumped up, breaking away from the soil. Further, it was as if the houses of cards were simply formed, forever burying under the collapses of those who stayed in them.

People who were on the street at that moment were a little more fortunate. They had the opportunity to hide in the parks. Eyewitnesses say that it was impossible to stay on their feet. Strong tremors of the earth threw everyone to the ground, the sidewalks swayed like water and cracked just before our eyes. Houses around were collapsing at an incredible speed, leaving behind huge clouds of dust.

Those who walked along sidewalks, alleys near high-rise buildings tried to hide from the wreckage of buildings. On people, in the truest sense of the word, walls collapsed and balconies fell. Those who were in stadiums, parks or squares were lucky to stay alive. But here, too, things were not so simple. From the ferocious shudder of the earth, trees fell, the asphalt surface cracked, children's swings, gazebos fell to the ground in an instant.

30 seconds of hell, half a minute of a terrible disaster destroyed cities and towns leaving no stone unturned. Within a few moments after the earthquake, the roar subsided, but it was impossible to look around and understand what had happened. Enormous clouds drank hung over everyone. For the first fifteen minutes it was impossible to breathe.

Half an hour later, the first cries for help were heard.. Those who were lucky enough to survive, to be not deep under the rubble, prayed for help ... But most of those who lived in multi-storey buildings were buried alive deep in the ruins, without the ability to get out, to call. Those who were on the upper floors at the time of the disaster had no chance of surviving.

Unfortunately, help did not arrive immediately. Of course, people tried to help on their own, but without special rescue equipment and skills, few were saved. Hospital posts were destroyed, burying most of the doctors who were at work that day. Therefore, it was not possible to provide the necessary assistance to the wounded. Medicines, drugs for first aid were absent. The city was drowned in ruins, screams, sobs and blood. In hysterics, the survivors rushed to their homes and apartments to check the condition of their relatives and friends, whether they were alive.

After an emergency meeting in Moscow, a commission was created to deal with the consequences of the disaster. By general agreement and approval by the head of state, the council was headed by Nikolai Ryzhkov, Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR.

Four hours after the tragedy, rescuers and doctors were sent to the affected areas.

It was the first natural disaster on the territory of the USSR, which was openly discussed on TV and radio. Having learned about the incident, hundreds of thousands of citizens of the Union, as volunteers, went to help the rescuers. Unfortunately, this was too little. Help that did not arrive promptly could no longer save many. Some survivors talk about the horror they experienced after being under the landslides for several days. The rescue operation continued for several weeks, and some cities were not reopened...

Cities, roads and infrastructure were renewed for five long years. Citizens from all over the Union assembled volunteer brigades to help derail cities and make them livable. To this day, in Armenia, December 7 is considered the day of memory of the victims of the Spitak disaster.

You can learn more about the topic of the Spitak disaster by watching the video below:

Here I propose to digress a little from our acquaintance with Armenia and completely immerse ourselves in history. In the city of Gyumri, the shadow of the terrible earthquake of 1988 lies on everything, and, in general, the scale of the tragedy is so great that I considered this topic worthy of a separate article.

The accident happened on December 7, 1988. To one degree or another, the earthquake was felt over a vast area from the Black to the Caspian Sea from east to west and from Grozny to the border of Iraq with Iran from North to South. The epicenter of a 10-magnitude earthquake with a magnitude of 7.0 was located 6-7 km northwest of Spitak.

The previous earthquake of comparable strength on the territory of the USSR occurred in Ashgabat in 1948. And the next biggest disaster - Chernobyl not even two years have passed since. It seems that some forces deliberately shook our country, helping to destroy the remnants of the Soviet Union.

The earthquake covered about 40% of the territory of Armenia. The city of Spitak and 58 villages were completely destroyed, followed by Leninakan (Gyumri), Stepanavan, Kirovakan (Vanadzor) and more than 300 settlements.

Earthquake victims

The earthquake was accompanied by frost and strong winds, which added their share to the number of victims and difficulties to the work of rescuers.

The data in different sources are slightly different, but more or less similar. According to the memorial inscription near the monument to the victims of the earthquake in Gyumri:

• Dead: more than 25 thousand people
• Became disabled: 140 thousand people
• Extracted from the rubble alive: 16 thousand people
• Left homeless: more than a million (according to other sources - 520 thousand people, but still a lot)

Armenia was helped by the whole world. Airplanes with humanitarian aid, troops and volunteers were sent from 110 countries. At the time of the Spitak earthquake, I was 10 years old, and I clearly remember how my grandmother collected warm clothes in a big package, I especially remember a coat with a fur collar. I still wanted to put some encouraging note in my pocket, maybe even with an address, so that later, when everything calmed down, I could make friends with an unknown recipient. But I never thought of what to write.

At first, looting flourished in the affected cities, then all territories were taken under the control of the troops, and they began to shoot for looting on the spot. In addition to volunteers and rescuers, brigades appeared that cleared rubble for a fee. In general, many people made good money on what happened (based on the materials of these memoirs).

A few photos from the scene.

Causes of the earthquake and destruction

Here you can fantasize a lot, so I'll just state what I read / heard without pretensions to the truth.

Many citizens agree that the Spitak earthquake was the result of tests of climate weapons. One man in Gyumri said that after the earthquake, large areas near Spitak were completely cordoned off, so much so that even rescuers could not get there. He was fully convinced that there was something to hide.

On the other hand, if we remember how densely our territories were crammed with a variety of military facilities, it will be clear that even without climate weapons, there was something to protect in the destroyed units and warehouses. Well, the fact that it could cost someone's life is unlikely to have bothered anyone then (however, I don't think it can worry anyone now, remember Krymsk).

The reason for such monstrous destruction, in addition to the earthquake itself, was our Soviet mismanagement, which was especially manifested in civil construction, and by the end of perestroika, which, perhaps, reached its climax. In particular, in order to reduce the cost and speed up the production of housing, the seismic hazard of the area was specially underestimated in the documentation.

“Powerful tremors shook off the plaster and paint marafet, and wire was found instead of reinforcement, a weak cement-sand mixture instead of high-grade concrete, rusty ugly growths where there should be an even weld.”(taken from here)

By the way, a similar situation took place in China after the devastating Sichuan earthquake in 2008, when many schools formed together with children like houses of cards, due to the extremely poor quality of construction and total theft of building materials. The Chinese even have a special term - "tofu schools", that is, schools built instead of concrete from tofu.

For attempts to publicize the true number of victims and the causes of destruction, carefully concealed by the authorities, the Chinese artist Ai Wei Wei was anathematized, summed up according to the necessary articles and almost rotted in prison (but he still has a long way to go).

Consequences of the Spitak earthquake

Initially, the government set a deadline of 2 years for the restoration of the affected areas, however, soon after that the Soviet Union collapsed, and therefore the deadline was somewhat pushed back ... Actually, as I said, the consequences of the 1988 earthquake have not been eliminated so far, although it has already passed over 20 years.

Some elements of the destruction, such as fallen church domes, were deliberately left as a monument, but, for the most part, all this is a little covered in the dust of the past years and in some places patched up devastation of those times.

Old house (a crack, probably from the time of the earthquake)

Walking along the streets of Gyumri, you constantly stumble upon cracked walls, the remains of houses, and half-blinded empty windows. And everywhere, including the very center. There is another interesting element of the urban landscape here: makeshift houses.

In many places, there are still the same trailers that temporarily housed people who lost their homes in 1988. But, as you know, there is nothing more permanent than something temporary.

The trailers were insulated, additional premises were attached to them, from which, in some places, entire houses grew. And the wagons themselves remained the same. As senets, extensions, pantries and, of course, reminders.

However, I would not be at all surprised if I find out that there are still citizens who still live in them, just as they did 20 years ago.

In the center of Gyumri, opposite the temple almost restored after the earthquake, there is a memorial square with a fountain.

Monument to the victims of the earthquake in Gyumri

Opposite the temple stands a monument to "Innocent Victims, Merciful Hearts", depicting a heap of people and concrete blocks.

Monument to the Innocent Victims, Merciful Hearts, Gyumri, Armenia

And a few more detailed photos of the monument:

The inscription on the stone slab nearby in Russian and Armenian reads:

“At 11:41 a.m. on December 7, on a foggy and gloomy December day in 1988, the mountains shuddered and the earth shook with great force.
Cities, villages, schools, kindergartens and industrial enterprises were instantly destroyed. More than a million people were left homeless.
During this tragic hour, 25,000 people died, 140,000 became disabled, and 16,000 were pulled out from under the rubble.
And the living ones were looking for their loved ones among those buried under the ruins.
And the children called their parents, and the parents called their children.
And there were thousands with merciful hearts with them in this grief.
And all the republics of the USSR and many countries of the world extended a helping hand to the Armenian people.
Deep people's grief for the innocent victims of the Spitak earthquake.
May the Lord rest their souls.
Eternal memory to them!

I don’t know about anyone, but personally I was very touched by this monument.

On the opposite side of the square stands a memorial sign.

Next to the restored temple there is a poster depicting what happened and what happened after the earthquake.

Well, that, perhaps, is all that concerns the Spitak earthquake. To all who have read this article, I propose to honor the memory of the dead with a moment of silence, during which to reflect on the fact that most of our problems are, in fact, not worth a damn.

A catastrophic earthquake in Armenia occurred 27 years ago, on December 7, 1988. It destroyed the city of Spitak in thirty seconds and caused severe destruction to the cities of Leninakan, Kirovakan and Stepanavan. In total, 21 cities, 350 villages and settlements were affected by the disaster. Only according to official figures, 25 thousand people died. One of several thousand volunteers who worked in the earthquake zone, Gennady Kirilenko shared his memories with Sputnik Armenia.

black months

We learned about the tragedy in Armenia in the morning at a lecture at Rostov State University. The Internet did not exist, there was too little information in the news, but rumors about the scale of the disaster spread instantly. In the afternoon, without any command from above, students and teachers lined up to donate blood. In the main building on Bolshaya Sadovaya, people carried canned food, cans of Don pickles, Azov bream, pasta and cereals, in general, everything that they had in store in the pantries of Rostov Khrushchev for a rainy day. And "black" then were not days - months and years of empty store shelves, coupons for oil, washing powder, sugar.

Everyone considered it their duty to help wounded Armenia at least somehow. The decision to go to the earthquake zone was born spontaneously, in the same place at a lecture. For several years, we, students of different faculties, traveled around the godforsaken corners of the international construction team, so we quickly gathered. Armenians, Russians, Dagestanis, Ukrainians, Chechens, Azerbaijanis, Abkhazians, Georgians... Who could have known then that in just a few years we would be separated by borders, and someone would look at each other through the sight of a machine gun.

Lost bus

University "Ikarus" could take about forty people, but there were five times more applicants. We had to weed out the people through a medical board - bespectacled, hypertensive patients and just nerds remained in Rostov.

Early in the morning, when rescue work was already in full swing in Armenia, we set off. All the food collected at the Russian State University was loaded into the luggage compartments of the bus. Behind us was a cargo ZIL of a military department with tents, tools, medical equipment. In the evening we reached the border with Abkhazia, where we spent the night in the bus. The first serious incident happened near Tbilisi - we lost ZIL. The truck driver fell behind the bus and got lost at the entrance to the city. We decided to wait for him at the Tbilisi bus station.

It is now there are mobile phones, and then, according to the logic of our driver, all the lost had to look for each other at the bus stations. On the windshield of the "Ikarus" was attached a sign "Special flight Rostov-Spitak", so as soon as we got off the bus, we were surrounded by drivers of the same old Georgian ikarus, lions and pasiks. We drove almost a thousand kilometers on Rostov fuel - the hoses of all gas stations along the way were tightened into a knot. We needed diesel. The Georgians silently dispersed and returned after a while, each with a canister of priceless fuel drained from their cars. And we stood, smoked and did not know what to do next. To go to Spitak without tents and tools seemed absurd to us.

Several nervous hours passed. It seemed that the entire Tbilisi bus station was looking suspiciously at our bus, which was in no hurry to go where help from all over the country flocked. The way out came by itself. On foot, in a shabby sheepskin coat, a hat with earflaps and with thick stubble on his face - like everyone else in those parts who mourns for the dead. I did not remember the name of this Armenian, who was on the bed-post to get home to the ruined Kirovakan. He approached us with a request to take him with him, and in five minutes we were already leaving towards Armenia. By the way, the ill-fated ZIL, having circled around Tbilisi, eventually left for Leninakan. I am sure that everything that we brought with us was not superfluous there either.

© Sputnik / Alexander Grashchenkov

Why do I hate the cold so much

When they say "an earthquake wiped the city off the face of the earth", this is about Spitak. Ruins, fittings, people black with grief, coffins on the streets, in the yards, the stadium, everywhere. It was very cold. There was a sweet, cloying smell in the frosty air. This is the streets of the former city, almost ankle-deep, spilled molasses from the tanks of the collapsed factory.

Builders, the military, and just those who survived the meat grinder warmed themselves round the clock around the fires. The commandant of the site gave us summer double tents, put us on allowance and divided into brigades. The place for the camp was found in the yard of the destroyed kindergarten. Toys, furniture, mattresses from cribs were scattered around. We lined the floors of the tents with them. We slept without undressing, four of us, so it was warmer, synchronously turning from side to side. Everyone woke up silvery from frost. Maybe after that I do not like the cold, winter and everything connected with it.

Igor Mikhalev

There were no problems with food and tools - at every intersection, or rather, where they were before December 7, 1988, there were field kitchens, canned food, boxes of butter, bread. About a week later, not far from us, a canteen appeared. Well, as a dining room - these were tables and benches hastily knocked together from a picket fence in the open. On the tables are a mountain of bowls, mugs, spoons. Nearby is a huge cauldron and the smell of pilaf. An elderly Uzbek fussed around him with a ladle. I asked who he was and how he got here. What he answered me very accurately reflected the essence of relations between people a quarter of a century ago.

You know, I was a kid when the same tragedy happened in Tashkent. I remember well how the entire Union was restoring our capital. And when it happened here, I thought that now it's my turn. I have a cauldron, a wife and children, so I took them all with me on the train and arrived in Spitak. The military gives us food and we feed everyone who is hungry. I couldn't do it any other way, you know?

last hope

The first object where our team worked was a garment factory. All the living, wounded and dead, who could be quickly found, were taken out on the very first day. We had to go through the rubble again in search of bodies not found. It is clear that there could no longer be living people there, in such a frost. We had nothing but hands, crowbars and shovels. Therefore, it was impossible to "untie" the reinforced concrete structures of the factory, woven into knots by the elements. Nevertheless, hour after hour we dismantled bales of fabrics, accessories, mangled sewing machines.

© Sputnik / Alexander Makarov

Builders from the Baltic States, crane operators from Ukraine, paratroopers from Ryazan worked nearby. And rescuers from Poland. At that time, we did not have any Ministry of Emergency Situations, special equipment, thermal imagers and other equipment with the SPETS prefix, which could quickly help find and save people. But the Poles had it. Bulgarians, jacks, some other devices. And dogs. It was they who accurately indicated the places where you need to look for people under the rubble. Come, sniff and sit down. So, you need to look exactly here.

That day we were dismantling the freight elevator shaft. In the morning the Poles came, three rescuers and a dog. The dog turned around and sat up. For the whole day, on a patch of three by three meters, we could only go one and a half or two meters deep. By dusk we reached and removed a piece of the ceiling of the mangled elevator. The body of a dead young girl was also found there. An old woman, all in black, came to the identification. Weepy eyes. On the day of the earthquake, her entire extended family went to work. And in the evening none of them returned home. And this girl was her granddaughter. And the last hope that at least someone survived ...

© Sputnik / Igor Mikhalev

Leninakan, or Gyumri, as this city is now called, was the very starting point of my trip to Armenia. More precisely my desire to go there. Neither Armenian cuisine, nor ancient temples, nor ripe armenian fruits and even the people that exist in this country, namely the tragedy of December 7, 1988, the Spitak earthquake, which destroyed this city, like many others, settled forever in my childhood memories.

We arrived in Leninakan (I can’t call it Gyumri, and many older Armenians also use the old names) already at the end of our journey through Armenia from the town of Ayrum, which is located almost on the border with Georgia. But if you fly to Armenia from Moscow or St. Petersburg directly to Gyumri, or arrive in Armenia through Tbilisi, then you can’t just take it and immediately leave for Yerevan. It is more logical to start the tour from the north of the country, including Gyumri. And then go to Yerevan. How to do this is written at the end of the article.

You can see the route in the north of Armenia here, and in this article my guide to this amazing country and the route for 7 days.

Freedom Square in Gyumri

On the square in the very center stands a monument to St. Vardan Mamikonyan and his associates. With a sword and a cross, he is embodied in bronze and it is not difficult to guess where such a neighborhood comes from. The national hero of Armenia is canonized as a saint. He defended Christianity and fought against the Iranians.

Near the square is the Church of All Saints and the memorial of the tragedy of 1988.

Church of All Saints

The temple was badly damaged after the earthquake. It is being restored, but the matter is not being argued very quickly. As you can see from the photo on the information board, only two walls survived after the earthquake.

But the temple is not entirely new. It is literally collected from the wreckage, like a valuable broken vase. The photo below shows that what is with the relief, these are old particles, but what is smooth is already a remake. We decided to restore like this, and not literally copying the missing parts. I think this is correct. So the memory will live longer.

Nearby lies the old dome of the cathedral. Since this is a roof, and badly damaged, it was decided to make a new one.

Now the cathedral looks like this. We were not inside.

Memorial to the victims of the 1988 earthquake

Memorial plaque to the victims of the earthquake.

Statue of the lifeguards.

I was most touched by the dog here, well, that's obvious. In general, thousands of people from all over the country, our former common one, took part in rescuing the victims.

In the summer of 2016, the memorial looked abandoned. Perhaps in December on the 30th anniversary, things will be different.

And then we went to wander through the streets of the old city, which started right from the Freedom Square. If it were not for cars and people, then the city in some places looks like from the last century. Paving stones, low houses made of black tuff.

Old Gyumri

Abovyan street.

Looking closely, you can see the cracks left by the earthquake.

Intersection of Abovyan and Mayakovsky streets: Drampyanov House, XIX-XX centuries.

And such old houses, at least partially, survived.

Doors of an old house on Abovyan street.

Forging on the balcony also survived.

The house at the intersection of Abovyan and Teryan streets is the building of a former hospital later turned into a luxurious house for fun. And now here.

We turned the corner and looked into a typical courtyard in Gyumri.

Only the wall remained.

And right next to it.
And people live in the neighborhood.

Some houses were partially destroyed. Where you can live, people live. For example, the second floor is destroyed, but they live on the first.

And this is already 30 years old. It is most likely impossible to demolish these houses, they are monuments. But, of course, there are no funds to repair and rebuild while preserving history.

And these are residential buildings. So that they do not collapse, unstable and weak walls are supported so that the house remains standing. Because on one side it can be destroyed, but on the other side everything has more or less resisted that it is possible to live. And where to go...

Here are the remains of the house on one side.

I looked through the door of the abandoned and abandoned house, inside.

In general, the old Gyumri is a mixture of Art Nouveau, houses made of red and black tuff and wood. How handsome he must have been then.

Well, at the end of the walk through the old city of Gyumri, here is such a neighborhood.

Hospital on Shirakatsi street

And then we went to Shirakatsi Street, where the remains of the destroyed children's infectious diseases hospital still stand. To imagine what it was here in those days is simply scary, even after 30 years.

How to get to Gyumri from Yerevan and from Gyumri to Yerevan

I wrote in detail about how and what to travel throughout Armenia and transport from Yerevan around the country.

Bus or minibus

From Yerevan to Gyumri, there are no official city buses, but minibuses, or private traders, will be happy to take you. In Yerevan, minibuses can be found on a patch, the so-called "Bus Station", next to the Yerevan railway station. The cost varies from 1200 to 1500 AMD depending on the type of car.

electric train

An electric train runs between Gyumri and Yerevan three times a day: at 8-25, 11-45 and 18-05. Travel time 3 hours 10 minutes. During the tourist season, from April to October, additional trains and schedule changes are possible.

Taxi or transfer

If for some reason you are afraid to communicate with the locals and that you will be deceived or you will need to bargain, and this will certainly be the case, you will have to bargain, then you can order a transfer in advance.

Car for rent or with a driver

If you have rights and love freedom of movement, then rent a car, for example, in. The road to Gyumri is not the best, but in any case, whether it’s a bus or a minibus, I’ll go along it. And if you are by car, then along the way you can see many beautiful views and stop.

How to get to Gyumri from Georgia

Another option for how to get to Armenia cheaply, in principle, is by plane to Tbilisi.

The cheapest tickets from Moscow to Tbilisi and back

And then take a minibus on the spot, or a taxi, or pre-order a transfer from Tbilisi airport to Armenia. Gyumri is located near the border. This route has already been run by many tourists and just Armenians. Georgia is friends with Armenia, and the border crossing (we were there on a “kindred” excursion) is not very stressful.

Also in Armenia there is an opportunity to take a car with a driver. The price in rubles is 2-2.5 thousand for the whole day. You can also take a driver with a car for a few days, while the driver himself decides where he will sleep. But if you didn’t book anything in advance, you can find accommodation on the spot. If you need contacts of "your" drivers - write, I'll throw them off.

Where to stay in Gyumri

Flying here and going to Yerevan on the same day is not the best option. So stay for one night. There are hotels in the city. Traditionally search on roomguru and book on booking.com

Or here, hotels in the center with discounts. Information changes and is updated.

Yerevan, 7 December. 27 years since the tragedy. Today, the victims of the Spitak earthquake are remembered in Armenia. It completely destroyed four cities. 25 thousand people died, more than half a million, recalls the MIR 24 TV channel.
Ani Pashikyan is called by the locals a symbol of rebirth. The computer science teacher was born on December 7, 1988 - the day of the Spitak earthquake.

“This date for me, on the one hand, is a national tragedy, pain, loss. But on the other hand, I am proud that I was born on this day, because at that moment another new life appeared. I feel like one of the symbols of the revival of our people. I realized this at the age of 10 and wrote a poem dedicated to the memory of the victims of the earthquake,” says Ani.

Life goes on, but memory is eternal, so at the festive table they always raise a toast to the dead. “This day is impossible to forget, Ani was born at 11:41, when the first three tremors occurred. The tiles on the walls literally exploded, the lamps began to burst. My obstetrician Emma Khachatryan hugged me and said - don't be afraid of anything. I gave birth safely, and, thank God, no one in the maternity hospital was injured then,” recalls Ani Pashikyan’s mother, Tamara Ashotyan, a resident of Artik.

In 1988, almost the entire northern region of Armenia was destroyed by powerful tremors in just half a minute. Four cities and fifty villages turned into ruins. In Gyumri alone, more than half of residential buildings and institutions were destroyed. Kindergartens, hospitals, schools suffered. Now everything has been restored and rebuilt. 22,000 families received apartments with furniture, household appliances and even utensils.

“For 11 years we lived in a trailer house without conditions and amenities. The day we moved here was the first day of our new life. We are very grateful to the benefactors and the authorities: we receive benefits, food rations, medicines, we promised to help with work,” says Zhenya Grigoryan, a resident of Gyumri.

Two months ago, the city authorities launched a new program "Gyumri without makeshift houses." “State programs to provide people with housing have ended this year. But there are still temporary houses in Gyumri, we will dismantle them and move people to new apartments. To do this, we are creating a fund, it will be financed from the city budget, through donations and charitable actions,” said Gyumri Mayor Samvel Balasanyan.

This year, dozens of streets in Gyumri have been completely restored, lighting has been updated, new playgrounds have been installed and the Youth Palace has been opened, which will become one of the largest cultural and educational centers in the region. Today, a monument to the liquidators of the consequences of the earthquake will be unveiled in Spitak. The bronze sculpture, 3.5 meters high, symbolizes a Soviet soldier with a child in his arms.