Archeologist Denounces Culture Ministry’s Plans to Turn Caves in Armenia Into Tourism Objects

The Ministry of Culture of Armenia has announced a competition of leasing out four caves and one cave group – Magelan’s Cave, Birds’ Cave, Bear’s Cave, Stone Doors Cave, and the Cave of Mozrov – for a period of 5 years “for the purpose of promoting tourism development,” according to a statement issued by officials earlier this week. The Ministry, however, has failed to take into account the opinion of archeologists on its plans, a number of whom have expressed concern that the project could hinder the archaeological works carried out in these areas. 

“It’s a good idea to prepare objects of historical and cultural heritage for tourism: it both brings profit and solves the issue of preserving the monument. At the same time, however, we should keep in mind that each monument requires a unique approach,” Pavel Avetisyan, Director of the Institute of Archeology and Ethnography of Armenia’s National Academy of Sciences, said in conversation with Epress.am.

The Birds’ Cave in Areni in particular – where Avetisyan’s Institute has been carrying out excavation works for the past ten years and which has come to be known as one of the earliest sites for wine fermentation in the world – should not be included in one competition package with the rest of the monuments and evaluated according to the same criteria, the archeologist added. “There are open strata in the Birds’ Cave, which means that any project related to this monument should first and foremost be concerned with the issue of preserving these layers and set the scene for further research. There are also clay buildings there, which will sooner or later collapse, crumble and disappear. In other words, first we should find resources to research ways of strengthening these buildings and extending their lifespan, because, otherwise, we will soon lose them. Announcing a lease competition without considering these issues is the right path to destroying the monument. We should first of all complete all the strengthening and development works to be able to understand when the monument is ready to be turned into a museum. Only then can it be rented out as a tourist object. Today, however, and for many years, it has to be used as an object for scientific research.”

Over the past ten years, Avetisyan continued, a lot of time and financing has been invested by the Institute into to the Birds’ Cave; “We have collaborated with various research centers, spent huge sums allocated by a number of funds as well as the Institute. The Ministry of Culture has not spent a dollar [on the cave], but somehow they are feeling free to just rent it out. The organizations that have invested hundreds of thousands of dollars into the works might one day be deprived by the future lessee of the chance to even set foot in the cave or continue their research… These problems could have been avoided had the Ministry of Culture decided to ask our opinion on the plan…”