Selon la Bible, L’Arche de Noé s’échoua au sommet du mont Ararat. Le petit-fils de Noé, Hayk, donna son nom au pays: Hayastan. Ses descendants, les Arméniens, s’appellent toujours entre eux les Hays. Malgré les terribles massacres de 1915 perpétrés par le gouvernement Jeune Turque (le premier génocide du XX siècle), malgré le découpage du territoire par Staline en 1920, et malgré la guerre contre l'Azerbaïdjan de 1988 à 1994, les Arméniens, solidement attachés à leur religion, leur culture et leur langue, ont continué à sauvegarder leur identité. L’Arménie est aujourd’hui à un carrefour de son histoire, laissant derrière elle 2000 ans de domination, passant du stade de communauté religieuse et culturelle à celui de société politique et souveraine. Au coeur des enjeux majeurs qui animent le Caucase (Pétrole, Iran, Azerbaïdjan) l'Arménie devient un acteur incontournable sur l'échiquier géopolitique international. Territoire, religion et société sont trois aspects fondamentaux que j’ai tenté d’aborder en me rendant dans différentes parties du pays, de la frontière turque à la frontière Iranienne, en passant par la région autonome du Nagorno-Karabakh.
The city of Erevan is gearing up to celebrate its 2789th birthday, with a concert in Republic Square. Armenia, November 2007.
GON0132604 © Nanda Gonzague
Birthday ceremony to celebrate the city of Erevan's 2789 years. Erevan, Armenia, October 2007.
GON0132605 © Nanda Gonzague
The construction of North Avenue, an 800 metre long road linking the Opera to Republic Square is one of the capital's major public works. Erevan, Armenia, October 2007.
GON0132609 © Nanda Gonzague
Demonstration in support of the ex-President and candidate Levon-Ter-Petrossian during the presidential campaign in 2008.
GON0132623 © Nanda Gonzague
Placing the new commemorative plaque on the Armenian government building.
GON0132622 © Nanda Gonzague
Street scene in the centre of Shusha.
GON0132616 © Nanda Gonzague
An inhabitant of Shusha in front of an apartment block that was bombarded during the war with Azerbaïdjan.
GON0132608 © Nanda Gonzague
The road from Stepanakert to Goris forms a corridor connecting Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia.
GON0132631 © Nanda Gonzague
A couple from Stepanakert were just married at the Ghazantchetsots Church in Shusha. Weddings in Shusha are very in vogue in the Nagorno-Karabakh region.
GON0132606 © Nanda Gonzague
After a wedding in Ghazantchetsots Church in Shusha.
GON0132611 © Nanda Gonzague
Two young men from Shusha catch the pigeons that were freed for a wedding.
GON0132602 © Nanda Gonzague
A young priest at the Ghazantchetsots Church in Shusha.
GON0132610 © Nanda Gonzague
During the war aginst Azerbaïdjan, a large part of the city of Shusha was destroyed. Today, 60% of the city was still in ruins.
GON0132617 © Nanda Gonzague
Harut is a local war hero from the war against Azerbaïdjan. He is known for having taken control of several Azeri tanks. Today he works in construction with his son Tigran.
GON0132612 © Nanda Gonzague
Hrachik Harutunijan, specialised historian in the Nagorno-Karabakh region, takes an inventory of Armenian cemeteries which were destroyed during the Azeri occupation.
GON0132613 © Nanda Gonzague
A police officer rebuilds his house in the centre of Shusha.
GON0132615 © Nanda Gonzague
In a restaurant in Shusha.
GON0132618 © Nanda Gonzague
The Nagorno-Karabakh region is always under stress. In Shusha, the military base watches the Azeri border situated several kilometres away.
GON0132607 © Nanda Gonzague
A young Russian soldier watches over the military zone in Shusha.
GON0132630 © Nanda Gonzague
The Noratus Cemetery near Lake Sevan is one of the biggest in Armenia. Over 900 khatchkars (burial stones) have been preserved there for several centuries.
GON0132628 © Nanda Gonzague
Built between 301-303 by Gregor Lousavorich (Saint Gregory the Illuminator), founder of the Armenian Apostolic Church, Etchmiadzine is the oldest Christian temple in Armenia and one of the oldest in the world.
GON0132632 © Nanda Gonzague
A woman prays in the Etchmiadzine Cathedral.
GON0132626 © Nanda Gonzague
Icon of the Armenian Apostolic Church at the gates of Etchmiadzine.
GON0132625 © Nanda Gonzague
In Kadjaran, a mining town in the south of Armenia, a father and his son chat on the side of the road.
GON0132619 © Nanda Gonzague
Border between Iran and Armenia.
GON0132620 © Nanda Gonzague
While the borders with Turkey and Azerbaïdjan are blocked, Georgia and Iran's borders are open to Armenia. Situated in the Iranian foothills, the frontier town of Meghri is a compulsory stop along the Teheran axis.
GON0132621 © Nanda Gonzague
Mount Arat has always been Armenia's national symbol. Now situated in Turkey, it represents the slicing up of Armenian territory by Turkey and by the former Soviet empire.
GON0132629 © Nanda Gonzague