Formation of Lusavan

When driving along the Yerevan–Sevan highway and turning toward Bjni, Arzakan, and Bujakan, which are rich in mineral waters, instead of the tall buildings on the left that today evoke an industrial past, imagine an open plateau with fields. It was here, next to what is now the village of Karenis in Kotayk Province, that a decision was made to build the reservoir to serve the future hydroelectric power plant, and a small settlement was created to provide overnight lodging for the workers who were building a bright future. It is not hard to guess why it was so quickly named Lusavan (“Light Village”).

Incidentally, the Argel HPP and the city’s main master plan were designed by architect Tiran Marutyan, at whose suggestion the settlement received the name Lusavan. In addition to the main master plan of the future city, which at that time was still a workers’ settlement, a hospital, nursery-kindergarten, bath and laundry building, club building (which now houses the cultural center), department store, the first single-story residential houses, and other structures were built here according to Tiran Marutyan’s designs.

“I drew up the master plan of the settlement in a very short period of time, and in the lower right part of the drawing I wrote in large Armenian letters: LUSAVAN. They liked that name, and that is how it stuck—Lusavan.”

“Honored Builder of the Republic of Armenia, architect, Doctor of Architecture, laureate of the World Biennale of Architecture, now retired...”

The industrial district was an important part of the settlement. The right side of the area was allocated for it. The left side was given to the residential district, with the idea that the predominantly left-blowing winds would not carry smoke from the industrial zone toward the settlement. In the central part of the settlement, below the station square, there was a park and a recreation zone. To the right of it stood a small clinic-hospital. In the residential district, a nursery-kindergarten, a school, a slightly detached bathhouse and a boiler house were built.

Sevada Hakobyan was a child when he moved with his parents to still-developing Lusavan, where the residential houses were single-story cabins, covered on all sides by the dust of ongoing construction. In 1942–43, Mr. Sevada’s father, a history teacher, had been sent on assignment to help establish the orphanage in Tsaghkadzor. In 1948 he was sent to Lusavan settlement to organize the eight-year school, which was located in the building that today houses the Sanitary and Epidemiological Station. In 1950 the school was put into operation.

Sevada Hakobyan was one of the first graduates of Charentsavan School No. 1, a classic Charentsavan type, who, like hundreds of his peers, entered the Yerevan Polytechnic Institute right after finishing school, convinced that he would be needed at one of the city’s many factories.

In 1967, when the young mechanics specialist Sevada was 21 years old, it was decided to rename Lusavan as Charentsavan, in connection with the 70th anniversary of the birth and the 30th anniversary of the death of the great Armenian poet Yeghishe Charents. However, to this day, long-time residents, out of habit, continue to call it Lusavan.

Sculptor Khachik Mirijanyan and architect Henrik Arakelyan created the statue based on Yeghishe Charents’s work “The Curly-Haired Boy,” around which stands the “Renaissance” memorial complex. It is located away from the residential districts and main pedestrian flows, yet it became the symbol of the city.

Incidentally, it was Henrik Arakelyan who designed the new Charentsavan railway station building, which was built instead of the standard design by Rafayel Israyelyan. The structure located in the city’s main square is abandoned and in an extremely poor condition today.

In this small industrial city, the leading sector was mechanical engineering, which accounted for about 67% of the city’s total industrial output. In 1958 the RBC (reinforced concrete structures) plant was established, followed by the Machine Tool Plant and the Toolmaking Plant, which was considered the largest in terms of production volume and number of workers.

Later, the “Dzulakentr” (Foundry Center), “Lizin,” and “Armavto” factories, the “Bjni” mineral water plant, a sewing factory, and others were founded. Until recently, there were still seven large enterprises operating in Charentsavan, employing more than a thousand workers. During the destructive developments of the 1990s, in this transformed, typically de-industrial city, trade has now come to dominate instead of industrial activity.

As of 2024, the population of Charentsavan town is 22,763, of whom 75% are officially unemployed. After the closure of most factories, many former rural workers were able to reorient themselves to agriculture, whereas many residents of Charentsavan proper emigrated.
Satenik Balabekyan, the Charentsavan municipality’s public relations officer, reported that today there are 5 factories and a sewing plant operating in Charentsavan, along with various small-scale productions.

“Of course, in this context, men’s involvement in the construction sector developing in the capital also plays a major role. The hotel complexes in the Aghveran resort area of the Arzakan settlement are also expanding year by year, employing large numbers of workers from the community itself,” noted Satenik Balabekyan.

There is no shortage of people in the city who have managed to stay in the community and find work.

Anna is a seamstress who, at the beginning of her career, worked in various organizations, sewing on different sewing machines and constantly trying to gain new knowledge. Later, she began sewing in their one-room apartment. Her daughter, Tatyana, recalls that the whole home was filled with sewing supplies: fabrics, at first a single sewing machine, and a small table.

There were so many pieces of fabric that there was hardly any space left even to eat. Later, with the money they had saved, they rented a small space, which after a while was no longer sufficient. They moved to a large and comfortable space, with a big table and, instead of one, 3–4 sewing machines. Anna proudly shows the sewing machine on which she has sewn the most, points to it and says: “She is my girl; I have sewn the most on this machine, and I still continue to do so.”

Charentsavan is itself quite small; it is about six kilometers from one end to the other. While this distance is negligible for young people, the lack of public transportation is a problem for small children and the elderly.

For Tatyana, one of the people contributing to the city’s development is her friend. The girl could have walked to her grandmother’s house, but she used the intra-city transport so that it would keep operating and not be shut down.

There is currently no public transportation in Charentsavan, but according to information provided by the municipality, this problem is addressed by intercity routes, which run from the outskirts of the city, pass along the main streets, and are used by residents as if they were intra-city transport.

According to the Charentsavan municipality, there has been progress in 2024 compared to previous years: the number of vehicles has increased, and they run more frequently, every 5–10 minutes. Unfortunately, in the mornings the transport is not sufficient to get students quickly to Yerevan, as there are more students and workers commuting. In the evenings, the last vehicle returns at 9 p.m., which makes it impossible to come back to the community by public transport late at night. In such cases, Yandex and other taxis come to the rescue. The transport routes from Charentsavan to other communities operate on a regulated schedule.

Today, the first thing that recalls the city’s industrial flourishing and development is its very layout. The residential districts are separated from the industrial zone by a green belt. This belt has turned into a desolate mass as a result of the sprinkling of irrigation systems typical of Armenian settlements and the mass tree felling of the 1990s.

In the early 2000s, the settlement’s only church, Surb Prkitch (Holy Savior), was built within the park area, and at the other end a restaurant complex, other buildings, and the Charentsavan city stadium were constructed. In 2016, with funding from the Football Federation of Armenia, the stadium’s grass cover was completely replaced with artificial turf.

The stadium is designed for 3,500 spectators and is in good condition. It has been leased and is used on a shared basis by the “Van” football club, which plays in the Armenian Premier League. Both community events and major football matches are held here.

In the past, this green belt, in addition to its recreational function, was also meant to be a leisure zone for young people and the elderly. However, if in the early years of the city’s formation the heart of the city was the square near the station, today the old residents prefer to gather in the area adjacent to the former cinema. Astghik Khojayan, a teacher of national song and dance who teaches at Charentsavan School No. 3, dreams that one day two different generations—children, grandmothers, and grandfathers—will all dance together here.

“These dances that the children learn have come down to us from our ancestors, and the elderly grandmothers and grandfathers are very inspired when they see the national dance. In addition to teaching the children the dances, I also teach them how they were created, and I try to instill in them a genuine love for national song and dance, and that love is so great that with every dance the children start to sing the corresponding song,” Astghik notes.

Astghik spoke with great enthusiasm about her project-based program with the 7th-grade students. As part of the program, she takes the children to the village of Bjni, to the “Naghashi Lavash” bakery, which was created by Irina Tadevosyan. Astghik says that in this place the children see, for example, how noodles are made or how lavash is baked, and they also try to do all this with their own hands. Very often the boys get even more excited and, without giving the girls a turn, spread the noodles out to dry. During this year’s visit, the children put on village clothes and tried to do village work: feeding the chickens, sharpening the scythe before mowing the grass, rolling out dough, and, most importantly, talking with the villagers.

Tatyana Darbinyan is one of the active young people of Charentsavan who very much wants there to be a dedicated venue in the city where young people can organize various events. In her view, young people are not particularly active in such matters. It may seem that creating something like this in the city is very difficult, but the municipality is open to discussing interesting ideas. Nevertheless, because of the passivity of the youth, everything seems impossible.

Tatyana has participated several times in discussions, seminars, and various events organized by the Charentsavan municipality. She says she would very much like to see more engaged young people working for the development of the city. The city, too, would benefit if young people applied their professional knowledge in Charentsavan itself and used that knowledge and talent to enliven the city’s life.

Vergine Margaryan was born and raised in Charentsavan. She remembers that in her childhood years Charentsavan was more colorful, because human interaction prevailed. Vergine can very often be found in Charentsavan’s 6th district, or, as residents usually call it, “by the post.” Everything she loves about the city is there: the fir trees considered the symbol of Charentsavan, which bring life to the road leading from the square to the 3rd district. In that area is also the only stylish café in the city. Vergine loves it for its large windows; it feels as if she is at the same time outside, in the environment of her beloved fir trees, where she can sit and look at her favorite trees and at people. Vergine notes that she came to the idea of a united community in Charentsavan while attending national dance classes: people who do not know each other join hands in a circle and become a community, through which it becomes possible to further develop the city.

“Many people in the city hide themselves; unfortunately, one possible reason is that they do not see many opportunities within the city. The number of meaningful places in the city is limited—places where it would be possible to have conversations and discussions—so most people, after coming back from work, simply go home. The driving force of the city, the one that reaches out a hand to the city and takes care of it, is the residents,” Vergine notes.

If in Soviet times the main cultural center of Charentsavan was the cinema, for today’s youth it serves only as a point of local memory. There is also no concert hall in the city today; the semi-constructed concert hall wing attached to the House of Culture has, for years, remained merely a reminder of an unfinished project.

Nevertheless, in recent years the cultural life of Charentsavan has become quite active. Events of many different genres are organized in the community. In the hall with a functioning organ at the Charentsavan Aram Khachaturian Music School, theatre troupes, well-known singers, and orchestras perform from time to time.

Unfortunately, Charentsavan lies outside the main tourist routes. Tourists might be drawn to the city’s central square, where you can find Henrik Arakelyan’s abandoned station building, the central iron fountain, the statue of the Curly-Haired Boy, and even the abandoned or partially functioning former industrial giants.

But the city also has less obvious places known only to locals. For Vergine, the square where Yeghishe Charents’s statue stands is one of the most sobering and restraining places in Charentsavan, and at the same time it creates a warm and friendly atmosphere—yet, sadly, the poet’s works are heard there very rarely, if at all.

Vergine began to discover Charentsavan for herself through photographing the city and seems to have formed a spiritual bond with these discoveries and with the town’s mysterious character. Every day after work, she makes a point of walking in the parts of the city she likes.

She says that otherwise it feels as if she is cut off from her source of nourishment. You can also see her in school yards: from the yard of Charentsavan School No. 5 it is possible to watch the setting sun and the beauty of the city. Vergine’s favorite places are the busy, child-filled corners of the town, where people stroll and chat, children run from one end of the playground to the other, and amid the city’s many shops people still have spaces where they can simply escape the bustle and walk.

While a few hours are enough to explore Charentsavan itself, visitors have several days’ worth of things to do within the wider community. In the Armenian government’s still-pilot program of enlarging communities, this satellite city of Yerevan was among the first to be included. In 2016, the enlarged Charentsavan community came to encompass the villages of Alapars, Arzakan, Bjni, Karenis, and Fantan. Each of them, in addition to its agricultural function, has significant tourism potential, for the development of which various projects were created in due time.

And to learn what is worth seeing in Charentsavan and the surrounding settlements, read more here.