Summing Up the Caucasus: Three Capital Cities

Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Armenia, three small countries in the Caucasus, all gained independence from the Soviet Union at the same time. Before this trip, I expected that Baku, Tbilisi, and Yerevan, their three capital cities, would all be more or less similar in nature and appearance.

I couldn’t have been more wrong.

Baku…

…is a polished, modern city. The small walled historic center, the Old City (in Azerbaijani, Icherisheher), a UNESCO World Heritage Site, dates from at least the 12th century, possible as far back as the 7th century. The area glows, almost literally, with the results of careful restoration. Buildings darkened from decades of pollution gleam brightly. Any new construction within the Old City is completely in keeping with the historic architectural style.

Outside the Old City are glass towers and some of the most astonishingly modern architecture anywhere. While remnants of Soviet-era construction still exist, mainly in outlying areas, new, modern apartments and office buildings have replaced most of them. At night it is all brightly and colorfully lit.

Baku is also the cleanest city I’ve ever visited. I didn’t see so much as a cigarette butt on the ground. Workers were even picking up autumn leaves faster than they were falling, and they were sweeping and hosing down broad pedestrian arcades.

Here are all my photos of Baku.

Tbilisi…

…is full of charm, but it never feels like it’s putting on a show. Old Tbilisi is a maze of narrow cobbled streets lined with a mix of old and not-so-old buildings. There was never any attempt to preserve anything there, and historic and newer buildings sit side-by-side all over the “old town.” Old Tbilisi could never be on any UNESCO list.

And yet, it works. In a lot of respects, it works better than Baku (at least it did for me as a visitor), because it feels more authentic, more laid back, more comfortable. Baku’s Old City is a place you want to walk through and admire the pretty buildings. Old Tbilisi is a place you want to hang out, drink wine, and watch people.

Outside Old Tbilisi, there is plenty of new construction. There are also a lot of houses, once magnificent and now sadly run down, from the nineteenth century, when Tbilisi experienced a golden age as part of Imperial Russia.

I came away from Tbilisi both delighted and saddened. Such a lovely city, and yet how depressing to have such a wonderful architectural legacy left to fall into decrepitude.

Here are my photos of the “faded glory” of Tbilisi.

And here are the rest of my photos of Tbilisi.

Yerevan…

…has no old town. I didn’t see anything in the city that predated the nineteenth century. In fact, there is an old district called Kond. But Hasmik didn’t take me there or even mention it, though it is not far from where we did our walking tour. From what I’ve read, Kond is a neighborhood filled with abandoned or neglected buildings, torn up streets, and a lack of basic services. I don’t think there’s anything of historical interest to see there as a tourist. I understand there have been discussions about revitalization projects, which so far have gone nowhere.

Instead of doing that, Yerevan’s revitalization has taken place in the center, an area (where I stayed) filled with upscale apartments and shopping, plazas and parks with fountains, and government offices. 

The architect Alexander Tamanian (1878–1936) created the original plan for Yerevan’s center. Approved in 1924, his plan was to transform Yerevan from a small provincial city to a modern capital and center of industry and culture. His stylistic approach was based on neoclassicism, but he incorporated local materials such as tuff and basalt.

One feature of Tamanian’s design was a pedestrian avenue cutting diagonally through the center. But the Soviets never implemented it. Finally in 2002, construction began, and Northern Avenue today is a busy area filled with upscale shops, apartment buildings, and open public spaces. Buskers perform at nearly every corner. 

Yerevan’s Northern Avenue has a lot in common with Baku’s Nizami Street. Both are bustling pedestrian thoroughfares with a definite upscale character. The buildings lining Nizami Street are three or four stories tall, compared to an average of nine stories along Northern Avenue, but the feeling on both streets is the same.

Hasmik told me most locals are very unhappy with how the look of the center has changed since the end of the Soviet era. The taller buildings have meant more congestion, and in general people just don’t like the way they look.

My impression, though, was positive. The new buildings, other than being taller, blend in well with the older style. New and old seem to complement each other. Unlike Baku, which wholeheartedly embraced modernism, contemporary Yerevan seems to respect the spirit of Tamanian’s vision. 

Here are all my photos of Yerevan.