What to buy at Vernissage?

At Vernissage once..

Do you want souvenirs? Ask where Vernissage is. Once there was a boulevard with fountains. Everything looked very cool and pompously Soviet. But now it’s vernissage. The sides of the fountains turned out to be very convenient counters. And now here is the largest market of art and souvenirs in Armenia. In the nineties, Vernissage became a real salvation for many families, literally helped to survive.

Foreigners who came to Armenia bought high-quality and very beautiful ceramics and jewelry for a penny. Now the prices are higher, but the products are still pleasing. And Vernissage itself has notably grown. Now you can even buy a carpet here – a separate alley has been allocated for this. There is also a section of the flea market – there are all sorts of junk, among which you can dig out some interesting things.

But the most interesting, of course, souvenirs. Pay attention to silver and epoxy resin products. There are many deposits of natural agate, jasper, obsidian in Armenia. So the products from them are local. Particularly interesting is the local archaic style. These are decorations of a modern look with asymmetry, which use motifs of rock decorations found in Armenia, elements of ornaments from Armenian manuscripts or motifs of the palaces of the kingdom of Urartu.

Epoxy resin products are also here for every taste. You can find complex compositions with mountain flowers and herbs, including jewelry.

The ceramics on the opening day are bright and spectacular. If you look for a long time, you can find real works of art. The main motif is pomegranate fruit, coffee sets, decorative plates or even serving sets with an enamel pattern. If you want to bring a real Armenian souvenir, buy a salt shaker in the shape of a female figurine – not everyone understands that this is a salt shaker. This form is many thousands of years old, so the salt shakers were large and even huge. In those days, salt was bought for future use in large quantities and stored in huge dolls with a hole in the stomach. By the way, in Moscow. in the Museum of the East, among the Armenian exhibits, you can see such a salt shaker. She is almost a meter tall. and modern ones are small, they can be interesting to decorate the table.

Also at the Vernissage, beautiful wooden items with fine carvings – boxes, backgammon, interior decorations, watches. Some masters make real high reliefs with complex figures.

You can take very spectacular photos in the alley of carpets, the owners usually do not mind, and the result is a very effective picture. In the same row you can see the work of embroiderers and lacemakers. There are hand-embroidered tablecloths with motifs of Armenian patterns – this is an expensive but very elegant and practical souvenir from Armenia.

Souvenirs such as handbags, T-shirts, baseball caps are mostly of very high quality and are worn for a long time. The most recognizable symbols of Armenia are the tricolor flag, the image of Ararat, the Tatik-Papik monument – the symbol of Artsakh and the pomegranate.

At the end of the walk, you can drink coffee in one of the nearby cafes – wash it down with cold water with ice.

Any of these souvenirs will remind you of your tour to Armenia with us for a very long time.