Yerevan's Trolleybus Station Cosmonaut Mosaic

There's a big chunk of Yerevan I have barely stepped foot in. It's a massive industrial zone that's actually larger than the centre of the city itself, which sits beneath the centre. Home to a series of massive factories and industrial hub that goes over 100 years back. This area is huge to say the least. But it's riddled with secrets of the past that are incredibly difficult to witness. Either dangerous to roam around due to stray dogs and random other people, but more likely impossible to get inside due to the large amount of guards which sit at every checkpoint still, as much of the area remains active. To try to entire this area poses significant risk, more from the potential of being caught and then possibly charged with who knows what kind of strange espionage claims due to the nation's troubled past with its neighbours. 

Inside these massive zones are generations of history which remain there rotting. I would love to get inside one day and capture them, though optimising more for the diplomatic route of asking permission and really trying my best to explain the interest to the guards. Something yet to come. Today, I did some scouting of the area. And I really felt the rich history with every step I took. And this zone, void of trees, once blasting chemicals into the air from massive cooling towers and smoke stacks, felt as dry as ever under that strong Armenian sun. I have no idea how people would've worked in this area in the past, it really must've been brutal. The zone, mostly empty due to corruption as the Soviet Union fell, with owners pulling up loans and then disappearing with the cash, as well as a series of chemical leaks and fires that claimed lives due to the neglect.

Due to the massive amount of people that would've been coming in and out of this area, it makes perfect sense that the city would house its famous trolleybus station here. Where workers would've taken the bus in and out of the area each day. The old trolleybus still functions here in Yerevan, with the buses themselves looking like a beautiful thing of the past, with a few modernised versions. I love that these are still running throughout the city, though I am yet to take it myself. Right next to the station, however, is something also incredibly old, something that speaks of the Soviet Union's (perhaps) greatest achievement: winning the space race. While the US might claim otherwise due to landing on the moon, the first people in space were in fact Soviets, and it's something the USSR took great pride in. With many art pieces and mentions of these achievements scattered throughout the republics. The Cosmonaut was a common figure in mosaics and in posters.

This mosaic being the second largest I have discovered in Yerevan, and I can't find a single piece of information online regarding its creation or intended purpose, beyond obviously being a celebration of those accomplishments. Given how old this area is, I'd place the period of creation from the 1970s to late 1980s. Slightly crumbling now, like much of the surroundings are as many factories and buildings built from the 1920s - 1970s are now overgrown and decaying. Inside buildings you can still see the past right there. Old clocks. Old calendars. Old seats. All the interiors are old, but beautiful. It wasn't the easiest thing to photograph: right by the side of a main road, with trees directly in front of it. You can't easily capture the entire mosaic unless you stand at an angle. So I snapped a few shots on the 35mm before switching to the 85mm for getting closer detail shots.

The mosaic itself depicts Cosmonauts floating through space, with some themes of flight seen through the addition of birds flying with them. Saturn is seen with its rings, and I think some of the other imagery symbolises other features within deep space: the sun and its rays, the galaxy and its shape, the many starts that fill the night sky. Men and women together reaching up into the Heavens. Within the centre, one Cosmonaut looking as if he's coming right through the middle, about to jump through the mosaic and into the real world. An incredibly beautiful design, and found within such an odd space. Though many at the time would've taken appreciation of it. The workers finding their morale boosted knowing their work efforts went to propelling the Soviet people forward as they came and went from their difficult factory jobs.