Mostly vegetables. There’s at least one other big market hall in Yerevan, and another area of market stalls protected from the weather only by tarpaulins on scaffolding.
The collapse of the Soviet Union was supposed to be a good thing, right? Most of the folks here don’t think so. “This used to be a really busy place – every stall taken, and a waiting list for stalls. Now look at it. People can’t afford the rent – and customers can’t afford to buy much.”
Of course it’s very different for those who do have money. They think the change is wonderful.
No, I’m not a communist. I could see things wrong with the Soviet Union, of course. But the process of its collapse was dreadful, and whether what’s replacing it will be any better even in the long run is highly questionable.
October 2013: Sadly, this fantastic place has now been demolished to make way for a modern supermarket. Same thing happened to Bradford’s amazing old Kirkgate Market in 1973. Sheer vandalism.
©Clive K Semmens 2011