Aerial Tramway (lower station)

Location: Ijevan, Armenia 

Constructed: 1985 (unfinished)

Designer: Vakhtang Lezhava

Genre: Modernist, Soviet architecture, former USSR

The purpose of the 1.6km ropeway was twofold. First, to develop tourism in the Tavush province by connecting the centre of Ijevan with an upper station in the surrounding Gugark Mountains. As well as an upper station on the mountain, the intention was to also build a restaurant nearby that would offer panoramic views of the city below. The second reason was so that milk from cows kept on the mountain’s alpine meadows could be transported down to the city at a faster rate than by road, thus retaining the quality of the milk. Construction work on the lower and upper stations began in the late 1980s but came to a standstill due to the breakup of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s. The project never resumed and both stations have been abandoned since that time. Source and more information; Urbanista