the armpit of (some place)
A very foul, unpleasant, or unappealing part of some region. People like to joke that our state is the armpit of America, but I've never understood the dislike for it. Despite housing the cradle of modern democracy, Athens really felt like the armpit of Greece compared to the country's beautiful islands and countryside.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
the armpit of somewhere
If you describe a place as the armpit of somewhere, you mean that it is the most unpleasant place there. While being, arguably, the armpit of Europe, it does look spectacular from a distance.
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed. © HarperCollins Publishers 2012