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116 ARMENIA AND THE NEAR EAST
At the bottom of the main street is the town park, with
tall trees, shady walks, and a tea-pavilion where a band plays
in the evening. Adjoining the lower end of the park is a
large Russian church with an open square in front of it. No
doubt it was built originally for the Russian garrison that was
quartered in the town, and was never much used by the
residents, who, like the Armenians everywhere, keep pertina
ciously to the Gregorian Church of Armenia. Nowadays a
big red Soviet star ostentatiously surmounts the highest dome
in place of the gold cross which used to be there. But its
colour does not go well with the blue sky.
Now that Erivan has become the capital of the Armenian
republic, and an asylum for multitudes of refugees, the town
is very much over-populated. Formerly the estimated popu
lation was 30,000; indeed, Lynch puts the figure for 1898
at 15 ,000 ; but the total is now 60-70,000. Seeing that
a large number of buildings have been demolished and no
new ones built, while a great deal of accommodation has been
tåken for Government purposes, there is a serious shortage
of houses, and the inhabitants have to live in very crowded
conditions. There is a regulation now to the effect that no
one has a legal right to more than two square metres of floor
space, which, as somebody observed at a soviet or municipal
meeting, is the usual churchyard allowance.
It seldom rams at Erivan in the summer, and the climate
is therefore rather monotonous. As a rule the first part of
the day is still and stiflingly hot, then in the afternoon there is
a breeze which would be refreshing were it not for the clouds
of dust it whirls up. Dark clouds often gather from Ararat
in the south, or the mountains in the north ; they produce
fine light effects, but hardly ever break in ram over the town.
Our meeting with the Government committee in the
evening lasted two and a half hours. Mr. Muravian, the
Vice-President of the Government, took the chair. Dr.
Kurgenian, an engineer and chemist who could speak good
English and German, acted as interpreter, as the Armenian
members of the committee did not know any West European
language.
Wc began with general questions. I was first asked to
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