Shota Rustaveli Primary School
Shota Rustaveli Primary School, or School No. 23, is a derelict school in Yerevan, Armenia. The building has a long history and served many different purposes. Today, it stands abandoned, but its walls still tell the story of almost a century.
- Built: 1932
- Abandoned: 2017
- Status: Endangered
- Visited: 2023
The former School No. 23 opened in 1932. It was built as a public school for children living in one of the oldest parts of Yerevan. During the Second World War, the school changed its role. The building became a military hospital where wounded soldiers received treatment. After the war, it was used as a chemical technical school before returning to its original purpose as a school.
Shota Rustaveli
In 1948, the school received the name of Shota Rustaveli, the famous Georgian poet. Rustaveli is one of the most important writers in Georgian history, and naming the school after him showed the close cultural ties between Armenia and Georgia during the Soviet period.
The Abandonment
In recent years, the number of pupils declined. It was shut down as part of a wider school optimization and rationalization program enacted by the Armenian government. The building was never fully abandoned, but it no longer serves as a school.
Today, it is only used as a polling station during elections. The rest of the year, the classrooms remain empty. Without daily activity, the building has slowly started to show signs of age. Inside, many classrooms still contain old blackboards, desks, and school furniture. Long corridors connect the different parts of the building. Faded paint and peeling walls remind visitors that the school has been closed for years.
