MONUMENTS

In 1963, on the occasion of Yerevan and Carrara becoming sister cities, the mayor of Carrara Filippo Martinelli donated to Yerevan a copy of the hands of the statue of Christ (sculptor: Jilma Madera), which was transformed from the hands of Christ into the hands of Friendship with the intervention of sculptor Ara Harutyunyan, and was installed in the Circular Park. As a sign of gratitude, the mayor of Yerevan Grigor Hasratyan, on behalf of himself and the people of Yerevan, donated the tufa "Tree of Life" fountain-monument to the city of Carrara in 1965 (installed in 1967). On the back of the monument is written: "In the sign of brotherhood Yerevan Carrara 1967 In segno di fraternita Erevan Carrara". With some modifications, the eponymous copy of the monument was installed in 1965 in the Circular Park between Isahakyan, Moskovyan and Teryan streets.

The authors of the two fountain-monuments are the famous architect Rafael Israelyan and the famous sculptor Ara Harutyunyan.

The 3.10 m high fountain, reminiscent of an Armenian khachkar, is made of Yerevan tuff. The central monument is decorated with a grape motif specific to Israelyan. A bunch of grapes is carved under the curve of each of the two branches stretching upwards in the middle. The entire composition symbolizes the tree of life. Two large, one-dimensional, differently decorated rosettes are placed above. A bird-like fairy is carved under the right rosette.

The sculptures of rams with spiral horns placed on both sides of the fountain are reminiscent of the traditional sculptures of rams of Jugha. The rams are decorated with ornamental carvings (plant ornaments, riders, floral sculptures) and guard the Tree of Life. The mythical bird sculpture introduces compositional asymmetric activity into the overall symmetrical composition.