Shushi

Before the Karabakh war Shushi used to be the intellectual center of the area, populated by both Armenians and Azeri's. Although ethnically an Armenian city, both groups of people lived together in relative harmony. 

Walking through Shushi, it immediately becomes obvious that you are in a war zone (previous war zone I should say)...there are countless destroyed buildings all throughout the city, the roads are filled with potholes, and there is just a pervasive sense of depression all around you. Every day people have to walk around the streets, constantly reminded of everything they have been through. It is strikingly different from Stepanakert.

 It isn't all bad. Shushi has its own idiosyncratic charm. There is so much potential to rebuild Shushi to its former glory. Maybe that day will come sometime soon. 

Like any self respecting Armenian city, Shushi has a beautiful church (3 of them actually) which looks a lot like a cathedral. It is very atypical for Armenia. Out of respect, even the former mosque of Shushi has not been destroyed by Armenian forces. It is being reconstructed along with the rest of the city...

(Images from top: a view of the city, some of the destruction, the mosque, an old woman cleaning her carpet, more destruction, the Surp Ghazanchetsots church of Shushi).