Italy has gained great sympathy and gratitude in Armenia firstly thanks to the solidarity of the Italian people after the terrible earthquake of December in 1988, when 25 thousand people died, while 517 thousand people remained homeless. Italy can boast the primacy of the first country to respond: it was the first among the 111 countries that gave hand to Armenia (even before the Soviet Union). On the evening of December 8, the Italians were already in Spitak, the epicenter of the earthquake. In February-March 1989 the first prefabricated houses or MAPI (living modules for emergency situations) equipped with furniture and heating arrived. On the whole there are 204 of such houses on the whole that exist up to now. This agglomerate of prefabricated houses was named by the Armenian population the "Italian Village” in memory of Italy's generosity in such a tragic event. "The Italian Village" also includes a pediatric ambulance station, which initially served the whole region of Spitak, and an art school. Thanks to Italian contributions there were constructed other 4 prefabricated houses for the Nuns of Mother Teresa of Calcutta (only one of them remained).

 

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