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The Armenian Quarter ( ar, حارة الأرمن, ''Harat al-Arman''; he, הרובע הארמני, ''Ha-Rova ha-Armeni''; hy, Հայոց թաղ, ) is one of the four sectors of the walled
Old City Old City often refers to old town, the historic or original core of a city or town. Old City may refer to several places: Historical cities or regions of cities ''(by country)'' *Old City (Baku), Azerbaijan * Old City (Dhaka), Bangladesh, also ca ...
of
Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
. Located in the southwestern corner of the Old City, it can be accessed through the Zion Gate and
Jaffa Gate Jaffa Gate ( he, שער יפו, Sha'ar Yafo; ar, باب الخليل, Bāb al-Khalīl, "Hebron Gate") is one of the seven main open Gates of the Old City of Jerusalem. The name Jaffa Gate is currently used for both the historical Ottoman gate ...
. It occupies an area of 0.126 km² (126
dunam A dunam ( Ottoman Turkish, Arabic: ; tr, dönüm; he, דונם), also known as a donum or dunum and as the old, Turkish, or Ottoman stremma, was the Ottoman unit of area equivalent to the Greek stremma or English acre, representing the amou ...
), which is 14% of the Old City's total. In 2007, it had a population of 2,424 (6.55% of Old City's total). In both criteria, it is comparable to the Jewish Quarter. The Armenian Quarter is separated from the Christian Quarter by David Street (Suq el-Bazaar) and from the Jewish Quarter by Habad Street (Suq el-Husur). The Armenian presence in Jerusalem dates back to the 4th century AD, when Armenia adopted Christianity as a national religion and Armenian monks settled in Jerusalem. Hence, it is considered the oldest living
diaspora A diaspora ( ) is a population that is scattered across regions which are separate from its geographic place of origin. Historically, the word was used first in reference to the dispersion of Greeks in the Hellenic world, and later Jews after ...
community outside the Armenian homeland. Gradually, the quarter developed around the St. James Monastery—which dominates the quarter—and took its modern shape by the 19th century. The monastery houses the
Armenian Apostolic Church , native_name_lang = hy , icon = Armenian Apostolic Church logo.svg , icon_width = 100px , icon_alt = , image = Էջմիածնի_Մայր_Տաճար.jpg , imagewidth = 250px , a ...
's Jerusalem Patriarchate, which was established as a diocese in the 7th century AD. The patriarchate is the ''de facto'' administrator of the quarter and acts as a "mini-
welfare state A welfare state is a form of government in which the state (or a well-established network of social institutions) protects and promotes the economic and social well-being of its citizens, based upon the principles of equal opportunity, equita ...
" for the Armenian residents. The Armenian community has been in decline since the mid-20th century, and is in immediate danger of disappearing, according to Bert Vaux. Though formally separate from
Greek Orthodox The term Greek Orthodox Church ( Greek: Ἑλληνορθόδοξη Ἐκκλησία, ''Ellinorthódoxi Ekklisía'', ) has two meanings. The broader meaning designates "the entire body of Orthodox (Chalcedonian) Christianity, sometimes also cal ...
and Latin (Catholic) Christians, the Armenians consider their quarter to be part of the Christian Quarter. The three Christian patriarchates of Jerusalem and the government of Armenia have publicly expressed their opposition to any political division of the two quarters. The central reasons for the existence of a separate Armenian Quarter is the
miaphysitism Miaphysitism is the Christological doctrine that holds Jesus, the " Incarnate Word, is fully divine and fully human, in one 'nature' ('' physis'')." It is a position held by the Oriental Orthodox Churches and differs from the Chalcedonian pos ...
and distinct language and culture of the Armenians, who, unlike the majority of Christians in Jerusalem (also in Israel and Palestine), are neither
Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...
nor Palestinian.


Location, borders and surface

The Armenian Quarter is located in the southwestern corner of Jerusalem's Old City. The quarter can be accessed through the Zion Gate and
Jaffa Gate Jaffa Gate ( he, שער יפו, Sha'ar Yafo; ar, باب الخليل, Bāb al-Khalīl, "Hebron Gate") is one of the seven main open Gates of the Old City of Jerusalem. The name Jaffa Gate is currently used for both the historical Ottoman gate ...
. According to a 2007 study published by the International Peace and Cooperation Center, the quarter occupies an area of 0.126 km2 (126
dunam A dunam ( Ottoman Turkish, Arabic: ; tr, dönüm; he, דונם), also known as a donum or dunum and as the old, Turkish, or Ottoman stremma, was the Ottoman unit of area equivalent to the Greek stremma or English acre, representing the amou ...
), which is 14% of the Old City's total. The Armenian Quarter is formally separated from the Christian Quarter by David Street (Suq el-Bazaar) and by Habad Street (Suq el-Husur) from the Jewish Quarter.


History


Origins

In the early 4th century Armenia, under king Tiridates III, became the first country to adopt Christianity as a state religion. A large number of Armenian monks are recorded to have settled in Jerusalem as early as the 4th century, after the uncovering of Christian holy places in the city. However, the first written records are from the 5th century. Jerusalem is thus considered the oldest living
diaspora A diaspora ( ) is a population that is scattered across regions which are separate from its geographic place of origin. Historically, the word was used first in reference to the dispersion of Greeks in the Hellenic world, and later Jews after ...
community outside the Armenian homeland. Philip Marsden wrote that the survival of Armenians in Jerusalem–"most intense of all cities"—proves their extraordinary resilience. Armenian churches were constructed during that period, including the St. James Monastery. The latter was last expanded in the mid-12th century. An Armenian scriptorium was in operation by the mid-5th century. A secular community composed of merchants and artisans was established in the 6th century in the Zion Quarter, where an Armenian street existed (''Ruda Armeniorum'').


Byzantine and Early Muslim periods

In the First Council of Dvin (506), the Armenian Church broke off from
Chalcedonian Christianity Chalcedonian Christianity is the branch of Christianity that accepts and upholds theological and ecclesiological resolutions of the Council of Chalcedon, the Fourth Ecumenical Council, held in 451. Chalcedonian Christianity accepts the Christ ...
by rejecting the dual nature of Christ, which was agreed upon in the
Council of Chalcedon The Council of Chalcedon (; la, Concilium Chalcedonense), ''Synodos tēs Chalkēdonos'' was the fourth ecumenical council of the Christian Church. It was convoked by the Roman emperor Marcian. The council convened in the city of Chalcedon, B ...
of 451. Thus, the Armenians found themselves in direct confrontation with the
Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
. Emperor
Justinian I Justinian I (; la, Iustinianus, ; grc-gre, Ἰουστινιανός ; 48214 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was the Byzantine emperor from 527 to 565. His reign is marked by the ambitious but only partly realized '' renov ...
persecuted whom he considered to be
Monophysite Monophysitism ( or ) or monophysism () is a Christological term derived from the Greek (, "alone, solitary") and (, a word that has many meanings but in this context means "nature"). It is defined as "a doctrine that in the person of the inca ...
Armenians, forcing them to leave Jerusalem. A 7th-century Armenian chronicler mentioned the existence of seventy Armenian monasteries in the Holy land, some of which have been revealed in excavations. The Byzantines ceded Jerusalem to the
Rashidun Caliphate The Rashidun Caliphate ( ar, اَلْخِلَافَةُ ٱلرَّاشِدَةُ, al-Khilāfah ar-Rāšidah) was the first caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was ruled by the first four successive caliphs of Muhammad after his ...
after a siege in 637. Until this point, Jerusalem had a single Christian bishop. In 638 AD, Armenians established their own archbishop,
Abraham I Abraham I may refer to: * Abraham of Kashkar, a legendary primate of the Church of the East, 159–171 CE * Abraham I of Jerusalem, the first Armenian Patriarch of Jerusalem, 638–669 CE *Abraham I of Jerusalem, Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusal ...
. He was officially recognized by Rashidun Caliph
Umar ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb ( ar, عمر بن الخطاب, also spelled Omar, ) was the second Rashidun caliph, ruling from August 634 until his assassination in 644. He succeeded Abu Bakr () as the second caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate ...
. The foundation of the Armenian migration to Jerusalem thus solidified.


Crusader/Ayyubid and Mamluk periods

In the 12th century, around one thousand Armenians moved to Jerusalem with the Crusaders, presumably mainly from the
Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia The Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia (Middle Armenian: , '), also known as Cilician Armenia ( hy, Կիլիկեան Հայաստան, '), Lesser Armenia, Little Armenia or New Armenia, and formerly known as the Armenian Principality of Cilicia ( hy, ...
. In 1311, during
Mamluk Mamluk ( ar, مملوك, mamlūk (singular), , ''mamālīk'' (plural), translated as "one who is owned", meaning " slave", also transliterated as ''Mameluke'', ''mamluq'', ''mamluke'', ''mameluk'', ''mameluke'', ''mamaluke'', or ''marmeluke'') ...
rule, Archbishop Sarkis (1281–1313) assumed the title of patriarch according to a decree by Sultan al-Nasir Muhammad. In the 1340s, the Armenians were permitted to build a wall around their quarter. This signified that the Mamluk rulers felt that the quarter did not pose a threat. Destroying city walls and fortifications had been a staple of Mamluk governance in order to prevent the Crusaders from returning and reestablishing their rule. The Mamluk government also engraved the following declaration in Arabic on the western entrance to the quarter: Jerusalemite historian Mujir al-Din provided a detailed description of pre-Ottoman Jerusalem in 1495 in which he mentioned ''Dir el-Arman'' (Monastery of the Armenians) or ''Kanisat Mar Ya'qub'' (St. James Cathedral).


Ottoman period

The
Ottomans The Ottoman Turks ( tr, Osmanlı Türkleri), were the Turkic founding and sociopolitically the most dominant ethnic group of the Ottoman Empire ( 1299/1302–1922). Reliable information about the early history of Ottoman Turks remains scarce, ...
tolerated the presence of non-Muslim,
Dhimmi ' ( ar, ذمي ', , collectively ''/'' "the people of the covenant") or () is a historical term for non-Muslims living in an Islamic state with legal protection. The word literally means "protected person", referring to the state's obligatio ...
, communities including the Christian Armenians. There was religious tolerance and an Ottoman administration existed to sort out religious differences between the rival Christian churches and Muslims. Israeli historians Kark and Oren-Nordheim wrote in 2001: "The Armenian Quarter, although Christian, represented a distinct ethnic group with its particular language and culture, intent on retaining separate identity and unity, minimizing the contacts with Arabs and the Ottoman authorities for fear of persecution." Many members of the Armenian community in Jerusalem spoke Arabic, in addition to Armenian. In 1538, the current walls of Jerusalem were completed on the orders of Sultan
Suleiman the Magnificent Suleiman I ( ota, سليمان اول, Süleyman-ı Evvel; tr, I. Süleyman; 6 November 14946 September 1566), commonly known as Suleiman the Magnificent in the West and Suleiman the Lawgiver ( ota, قانونى سلطان سليمان, Ḳ ...
. These walls, along with the internal walls built by the Armenians, determined the outline of the quarter. In the 1562–63 record, only 189 Armenians were counted, whereas 640 were counted by the Ottomans in 1690, an increase of 239%.Peri, Oded (2001). ''Christianity under Islam in Jerusalem: The Question of the Holy Sites in Early Ottoman Times (Ottoman Empire & Its Heritage)''. Leiden: Brill, p. 20. According to the chronicler Simeon Lehatsi only some twelve Armenian families lived in Jerusalem in 1615–16. The significant increase in the population in 1690 is attributed to urbanization experienced by the Armenians and other Christians. Thus Armenians came to make up 22.9% of Jerusalem's Christians by 1690, becoming the second largest Christian community. In the 19th century, most of the Armenian and Christian quarters had "European-style gable roofs" as opposed to the domes preferred in the Muslim and Jewish quarters. In 1833 the Armenians established the city's first
printing press A printing press is a mechanical device for applying pressure to an inked surface resting upon a print medium (such as paper or cloth), thereby transferring the ink. It marked a dramatic improvement on earlier printing methods in which the ...
. A seminary was opened in 1857. In 1855 the first photographic workshop in Jerusalem was founded in the Armenian Quarter. Schools for boys (1840) and girls (1862) were united in 1869 under the name Holy Translators' School and became the first coeducational school in Jerusalem. In 1854
Karl Marx Karl Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 ...
reported 350 Armenians in Jerusalem. In 1883, 102 Armenian families (8%) constituted the third largest Christian community in the Old City after the Greek Orthodox and Catholic (Latin) communities. Besides these residents, in the same year, 46 Armenian priests and monks and 55 servicemen lived within the St. James Monastery. According to the 1905 Ottoman census in the Old City, the Armenian Quarter had a population of 382, of which Armenians (121) comprised less than one-third (31.7%). Jews (127) made up 33.2%, other Christians (94) 24.6% and Muslims (40) 10.5%. The Jews, who numbered a little more than the Armenians, inhabited the eastern part of the Armenian Quarter, which in the second half of the nineteenth century, became the western part of the Jewish Quarter.


World War I, British, and Jordanian periods

Prior to World War I, there were some 2,000–3,000 Armenians in Palestine, mostly in Jerusalem, which was captured by the British in 1917. From 1915 and onward, thousands of
Armenian genocide The Armenian genocide was the systematic destruction of the Armenian people and identity in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Spearheaded by the ruling Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), it was implemented primarily through t ...
survivors from
Cilicia Cilicia (); el, Κιλικία, ''Kilikía''; Middle Persian: ''klkyʾy'' (''Klikiyā''); Parthian: ''kylkyʾ'' (''Kilikiyā''); tr, Kilikya). is a geographical region in southern Anatolia in Turkey, extending inland from the northeastern co ...
( Adana Vilayet) found refuge, and settled in the quarter, increasing its population. In 1925, around 15,000 Armenians are believed to have lived in all of Palestine, with the majority in Jerusalem. During the British Mandate period, the number of Armenians is estimated to have reached up to 20,000. However, the 1931 British census showed only 3,524 Armenians in all of Palestine. In 1947, around 1,500 Armenians from Palestine repatriated to Soviet Armenia as part of the Soviet government's efforts to boost Armenia's population by a large-scale repatriation of ethnic Armenians, mostly from the Middle East. This marked the beginning of the long-term decline of the Armenian community of Jerusalem. During the
1948 Arab–Israeli War The 1948 (or First) Arab–Israeli War was the second and final stage of the 1948 Palestine war. It formally began following the end of the British Mandate for Palestine at midnight on 14 May 1948; the Israeli Declaration of Independence had ...
, the Armenian Quarter was damaged by bombs. It housed many Armenians from around Palestine. An Armenian civil guard, armed with what Der Matossian describes as " makeshift weapons", was formed to defend the quarter. Over 40 Armenians died during the war.


Israeli period and Jewish settlement

Jerusalem's Old City came under Israeli control in the aftermath of the
Six-Day War The Six-Day War (, ; ar, النكسة, , or ) or June War, also known as the 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab states (primarily Egypt, Syria, and Jordan) from 5 to 10 ...
in 1967. However, the Armenian patriarchate is the ''de facto'' administrator of the quarter and acts as a "mini-
welfare state A welfare state is a form of government in which the state (or a well-established network of social institutions) protects and promotes the economic and social well-being of its citizens, based upon the principles of equal opportunity, equita ...
" for the Armenian residents. The Arab-Israeli conflict significantly affected the quarter's politically uninvolved Armenian population. A 1992 article published by the
Catholic Near East Welfare Association The Catholic Near East Welfare Association (abbreviated CNEWA, pronounced "k-NAY-wah" ) is a papal agency established in 1926 and dedicated to giving pastoral and humanitarian support to Northeast Africa, the Middle East, Eastern Europe, and India. ...
stated that "Armenians in Jerusalem try to maintain good relations with Arabs and Israelis, but they do not deny that their community has been affected by tensions in the city." During the Jordanian rule of the eastern Jerusalem (1948–67), no Jews were allowed to live in the Old City. Since the start of Israeli rule of the Old City in 1967, the Jewish Quarter has expanded by some 40% and by 2000, 71 (12%) or 81 (14%) of the 581 properties in the Armenian Quarter were owned by Jews. The Armenian community is concerned that the Jewish Quarter "will expand as the number of Jews in the Old City continues to grow while the Armenian population withers." The location of the Armenian Quarter athwart the main access roads between the Israeli-controlled West Jerusalem and the holy sites within the Jewish Quarter and the
Western Wall The Western Wall ( he, הַכּוֹתֶל הַמַּעֲרָבִי, HaKotel HaMa'aravi, the western wall, often shortened to the Kotel or Kosel), known in the West as the Wailing Wall, and in Islam as the Buraq Wall (Arabic: حَائِط ...
has made Armenian properties a prime real estate in Israeli eyes. According to
Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency was est ...
, the Armenian Patriarchate "share a view held by the mostly Muslim Palestinians—that Israel's designation of the whole city as capital of the Jewish state means its control of residence and building permits is being used to press Arabs and other non-Jews to give up and leave." Israeli sovereignty over the Armenian Quarter would be, according to Usher, the "worst future imaginable" for the Armenian community. Members of Jerusalem's Armenian community have voiced concerns about the Israeli government's policies and commitment to preserving their community's presence in the Old City.


Ongoing issues

A major obstacle for the Armenians residing in the Armenian Quarter is their Jordanian citizenship (from before 1967), because of which the Israeli government considers them "permanent residents"—the same status as Palestinians. ''
The Jerusalem Post ''The Jerusalem Post'' is a broadsheet newspaper based in Jerusalem, founded in 1932 during the British Mandate of Palestine by Gershon Agron as ''The Palestine Post''. In 1950, it changed its name to ''The Jerusalem Post''. In 2004, the pap ...
'' wrote in 2005 that the Israeli bureaucracy "considers Jerusalem Armenians to be Palestinians, which means endless delays in getting documents, and hassles at the airport." A map published by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in November 2015 indicated the Armenian Quarter in the color reserved for Palestinian communities. According to Armenian researcher Tamar Boyadjian, because Armenians are considered Palestinians for all legal purposes they have difficulty obtaining travel and marriage documents. Graham Usher, a Palestine-based foreign correspondent of several Western newspapers, wrote in 2000 in a publication of the
Beirut Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...
-based
Institute for Palestine Studies The Institute for Palestine Studies (IPS) is the oldest independent nonprofit public service research institute in the Arab world. It was established and incorporated in Beirut, Lebanon, in 1963 and has since served as a model for other such ins ...
that the Armenians "were burdened with the status of being Palestinian 'residents' but ethnically Armenian. And indeed their lives, properties and heritage have been bound by the same Israeli constraints as their Palestinian compatriots." ''
The Economist ''The Economist'' is a British weekly newspaper printed in demitab format and published digitally. It focuses on current affairs, international business, politics, technology, and culture. Based in London, the newspaper is owned by The Eco ...
'' also wrote in 2000 that Armenians have faced restrictions on their lives similar to those imposed on the Palestinians, such as prevention of construction of new buildings in the Armenian Quarter. The limited space in the overpopulated district makes housing expensive and according to Boyadjian, "Most Armenians, given their current income, simply cannot afford to maintain their primary residence there." The Armenian Patriarchate has voiced concerns about the Israeli police not treating spitting by Haredi Jews on Armenian clergy, students and teachers as
hate crime A hate crime (also known as a bias-motivated crime or bias crime) is a prejudice-motivated crime which occurs when a perpetrator targets a victim because of their membership (or perceived membership) of a certain social group or racial demograph ...
. Furthermore, clergy who have lived at the Armenian monastery compound for decades do not have residency status, and, thus, "pay as tourists for public services such as healthcare." As of mid-2019 a memorial to the Armenian genocide on church property "remains closed to visitors because the municipality has delayed approving construction of the entrance." ;Cows' Garden controversy In September 2021 Armenian-American journalist Harut Sassounian wrote that a plot of land called Cows' Garden (''Goveroun Bardez'') in the Armenian Quarter was leased by the Armenian Patriarchate to Danny Rubenstein, a Jewish businessman from Australia. Father Baret Yeretzian, director of the Patriarchate's real estate department, who confirmed the deal, told him that the land was leased for 98 years and Rubenstein plans to build a luxurious hotel on the property. The Armenian Patriarchate said the deal, approved by the Holy Synod, was signed with "a corporate from the United Arab Emirates" and was expected to receive a net income of hundreds of thousands of dollars. The
Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin ( hy, Մայր Աթոռ Սուրբ Էջմիածին, translit=Mayr At’oř Surb Ēĵmiatsin), known in Armenian as simply the Mother See (Մայր Աթոռ, ''Mayr At’oř''), is the governing body of the Armen ...
, the leading body of the Armenian Church, said the situation had disrupted the "internal solidarity and unity" within the Patriarchate and "reduce itsreputation." Catholicos Karekin II urged Patriarch Nourhan Manougian to "reflect on the concerns through proper interpretation, and to restore solidarity in the Brotherhood." Ramzi Khoury, head of the Palestinian Higher Presidential Committee for Churches Affairs in Palestine, called the land transactions in the Armenian Quarter a violation of international law as Palestinians consider the area an "integral part of the Palestinian occupied territories." Armenia's Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan discussed the issue with his counterparts from Jordan ( Ayman Safadi), Palestine ( Riyad al-Maliki), and Israel (
Yair Lapid Yair Lapid ( he, יָאִיר לַפִּיד, transliterated: , ; born 5 November 1963) is an Israeli politician and former journalist who has been serving as the 14th prime minister of Israel since 1 July 2022. He previously served as the alt ...
).


Demographics

Writing in 2000, Graham Usher estimated that the Armenian Quarter had a population of 1,200. According to a 2007 study, the quarter housed 2,424 people (6.55% of Old City's total).


Decline of the Armenian population

Armenians began emigrating from Jerusalem's Old City in the mid-20th century, being in the middle of the conflict between Arabs and Jews, mainly since the
1948 Arab–Israeli War The 1948 (or First) Arab–Israeli War was the second and final stage of the 1948 Palestine war. It formally began following the end of the British Mandate for Palestine at midnight on 14 May 1948; the Israeli Declaration of Independence had ...
, and what Daphne Tsimhoni characterized as "their feeling of loneliness." The lack of a longstanding political solution to the
Israeli–Palestinian conflict The Israeli–Palestinian conflict is one of the world's most enduring conflicts, beginning in the mid-20th century. Various attempts have been made to resolve the conflict as part of the Israeli–Palestinian peace process, alongside other ef ...
for Jerusalem has been cited as the main cause of the decrease in the number of Armenians in the Old City, which fell by almost half from 1,598 in 1967 to 790 in 2006. Meanwhile, the Muslim population increased from 16,681 to 27,500 and the Jewish population from 0 (after their expulsion under Jordanian rule) to 3,089. The exodus of the Armenians intestified following the breakout of the
First Intifada The First Intifada, or First Palestinian Intifada (also known simply as the intifada or intifadah),The word ''wikt:intifada, intifada'' () is an Arabic word meaning "wikt:uprising, uprising". Its strict Arabic transliteration is '. was a sus ...
in 1987. According to Tsolag Momjian, the honorary Armenian consul in Jerusalem, as of 2009 around 600 Armenians lived in the Armenian Quarter (out of the total 2,000 Armenians in all of Jerusalem). Two articles, published in 2010 and 2011, put the number of Armenians in the Armenian Quarter as low as 500. Despite the drastic decline in the number of Armenians, Israeli scholar Daphne Tsimhoni wrote in 1983 that "the existence of their church headquarters in Jerusalem provides for the continued presence of some clergy and a certain number of laity." On the contrary, American linguist Bert Vaux argued in 2002 that the Armenian community of Jerusalem is "in immediate danger of disappearing—the wealthy move into other parts of Jerusalem, and the closed environment in the Armenian Quarter spurs many to move to Beirut or the West." Armenian author Matthew Karanian wrote about the Armenian community of Jerusalem in 2010 as follows:


Subgroups

Haytayan identifies three groups of Armenians living within the Armenian Quarter The first group includes monks and clergymen (around 50), who live within the monastery. Lay people are divided into two groups: those living within the monastery compound, and those living in the Armenian Quarter, but outside of the monastery walls. Around two-thirds of lay persons reside within the monastery walls. Locally known as ''vanketsi'' (վանքեցի, lit. "those from the convent"), they number up to 700 people. They do not pay rent (or pay only a symbolic amount) to the patriarchate. Those living outside of the monastery walls are called ''kaghakatsi'' (քաղաքացի, lit. "city-dwellers"). Their ancestry goes back centuries. They pay only municipal taxes. Bert Vaux identifies two subgroups of Armenians: *k‘ałak‘ac‘is ("citizens" or "city dwellers") are the indigenous Armenian-speaking inhabitants of the quarter. They live outside the monastery walls, and attend the Church of the Holy Archangels (Hreshtakapetats). *k‘ałt‘agans (" migrants") are descendants of Armenians from various parts of the Ottoman Empire who moved to Jerusalem following the 1915 genocide. They attend services at the cathedral of St. James. According to Vaux, "In the period immediately after their arrival they were referred to by the k‘ałak‘ac‘is as ''zuwar'', the Arabic word for ‘visitors’. The k‘ałt‘agans in turn are reported to have labelled the k‘ałak‘ac‘is as ''p‘is arab'' ‘dirty Arab’. The two groups each remained wary of the other for some time, and in fact did not intermarry on a significant scale until after World War II. Relations subsequently improved."


Language

The Armenian dialect spoken in Jerusalem is highly distinctive, because it was geographically relatively isolated from the rest of the Armenian-speaking world, and
Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...
has a significant influence on it. Those Armenians whose ancestors came from Turkey following the 1915 genocide speak Turkish-influenced
Western Armenian Western Armenian ( Classical spelling: , ) is one of the two standardized forms of Modern Armenian, the other being Eastern Armenian. It is based mainly on the Istanbul Armenian dialect, as opposed to Eastern Armenian, which is mainly base ...
.


Landmarks and institutions


Armenian


Religious

* Cathedral of St. James (Սուրբ Յակոբեանց վանք, ''Surb Hakobeants vank'') is thought to have been founded in the 4th century, but the current structure dates to the 12th century. *
St. Toros Church Church of Saint Toros ( hy, Սուրբ Աստվածածին եկեղեցի) is an Armenian Orthodox church in the Armenian Quarter of Jerusalem. History The Church of St. Toros is located next to St. James' Cathedral. Some 4,000 ancient manu ...
(Սուրբ Թորոս եկեղեցի, ''Surb T'oros yekeğetsi''). According to local tradition, the church was built between 1270 and 1289 by Hethum I, the Armenian King of Cilicia in memory of his son, Toros, who was killed in a battle. The church was renovated to its current state in 1727. * Church of the Holy Archangels (Սրբոց Հրեշտակապետաց եկեղեցի, ''Srbots Hreštakapetats yekeğetsi''; ''Deir Al Zeitoun'') was founded in the 12th century probably on the ruins of an ancient church in the 4th century.


Educational

*The Alex and Marie Manoogian Seminary (Ալեքս եւ Մարի Մանուկեան Ժառանգաւորաց Վարժարան) was founded in 1975 through financing of Armenian-American businessman and philanthropist
Alex Manoogian Alexander Manoogian ( hy, Ալեք Մանուկեան; June 28, 1901 – July 10, 1996) was an Armenian-American industrial engineer, businessman, entrepreneur and philanthropist who spent most of his career in Detroit, Michigan. He was the foun ...
. *Sts. Holy Translators' School (Սրբոց թարգմանչաց վարժարան, ''Srbots t'argmančats varžaran'') contains a kindergarten, elementary and secondary schools with a total of around 150 students (as of 2000).


Cultural

The Armenian monastery compound in Jerusalem is considered to be the "largest and most valuable treasury" of Armenian art and cultural artifacts outside Armenia. Some of the most valuable possessions of the Patriarchate are not normally on display, some of those being kept in a special vault. Among the treasured possessions are the miniatures of Toros Roslin (c. 1210–1270), the most prominent Armenian manuscripts illuminator (four of the extant seven are in Jerusalem), ''kondak''s ( pastorals) issued by the
Catholicos Catholicos, plural Catholicoi, is a title used for the head of certain churches in some Eastern Christian traditions. The title implies autocephaly and in some cases it is the title of the head of an autonomous church. The word comes from ancient ...
and the Patriarch in 1064,
Saladin Yusuf ibn Ayyub ibn Shadi () ( – 4 March 1193), commonly known by the epithet Saladin,, ; ku, سه‌لاحه‌دین, ; was the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty. Hailing from an ethnic Kurdish family, he was the first of both Egypt an ...
's writ instructing Muslims not to harm Armenians in the wake of him recapturing Jerusalem from the Crusaders in 1187, the ''Covenant of Prophet Muhammad'' guaranteeing the Armenian Christians of Jerusalem their rights and properties, and one of the very few surviving medieval Armenian wooden church doors with carved inscriptions (a 14th-century specimen). *The St. James Press (տպարան Սրբոց Յակոբեանց, ''tparan Srbots Hakobeants'') was founded in 1833. *The Mardigian Museum, full name Helen and Edward Mardigian Museum of Armenian Art and Culture, is housed by a two-storey, 700 m2 building. It was opened in 1969 but had to close again in the mid-1990s, given the very poor state of the building, a situation not changed at least until 2017, in spite of some renovation work being done after 2009. The museum exhibits a number of historical and religious artifacts, such as rugs, coins, copper cauldrons, ceramic tiles, an ancient world map in Armenian, and a replica of Gutenberg's printing press said to be the first one used in Jerusalem, etc. It also has a section on the 16 centuries of Armenian history in the Holy Land, and one dedicated to the 1915
Armenian Genocide The Armenian genocide was the systematic destruction of the Armenian people and identity in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Spearheaded by the ruling Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), it was implemented primarily through t ...
at the hands of the
Ottomans The Ottoman Turks ( tr, Osmanlı Türkleri), were the Turkic founding and sociopolitically the most dominant ethnic group of the Ottoman Empire ( 1299/1302–1922). Reliable information about the early history of Ottoman Turks remains scarce, ...
.''Edward & Helen Mardigian Museum''
at armenian-jerusalem.org. Accessed 2021-09-16.
*Calouste Gulbenkian Library (Կիւլպէնկեան Մատենադարան), founded in 1925 through financing of British-Armenian businessman and philanthropist Calouste Gulbenkian, for whom it is named. Officially opened on 23 October 1932, it is considered "one of the world's most comprehensive Armenian intellectual resource centers" with its 100,000 book collection. On its opening day, it contained 25,037 volumes (14,518 in Armenian and 11,519 in other languages). Three decades later, in 1963, the number reached around 50,000. *St. Toros Manuscript Library, founded in 1897, holds 3,890 inventoried and cataloged Armenian manuscripts, making it the second largest in the world, after the
Matenadaran The Matenadaran ( hy, Մատենադարան), officially the Mesrop Mashtots Institute of Ancient Manuscripts, is a museum, repository of manuscripts, and a research institute in Yerevan, Armenia. It is the world's largest repository of Armenia ...
in Yerevan, Armenia. In 1931, the number of cataloged manuscripts stood at 2,720.


Other

*Armenian Garden


Non-Armenian

;Churches *The
Syriac Orthodox , native_name_lang = syc , image = St_George_Syriac_orthodox_church_in_Damascus.jpg , imagewidth = 250 , alt = Cathedral of Saint George , caption = Cathedral of Saint George, Damascu ...
St. Mark's Monastery is located on Ararat St. The Assyrians/Syriacs share the Armenians' miaphysitism and "hence tended to prefer to live under the 'umbrella' of the larger and stronger Armenian community." *The Greek Orthodox Church of Saint George, with monastery * Christ Church, a 19th-century Protestant church *The Maronite Church (also known as St. Maroun's House), the only
Maronite The Maronites ( ar, الموارنة; syr, ܡܖ̈ܘܢܝܐ) are a Christian ethnoreligious group native to the Eastern Mediterranean and Levant region of the Middle East, whose members traditionally belong to the Maronite Church, with the lar ...
place of worship in Jerusalem *Crusader Church of St. Thomas Alemannorum (possibly misread from "Armeniorum"), in ruins ;Other *
Tower of David The Tower of David ( he, מגדל דוד, Migdál Davíd), also known as the Citadel ( ar, القلعة, al-Qala'a), is an ancient citadel located near the Jaffa Gate entrance to the Old City of Jerusalem. The citadel that stands today dates ...
(Citadel)


Political status and views

The
United Nations General Assembly The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; french: link=no, Assemblée générale, AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as the main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ of the UN. Curr ...
considers
East Jerusalem East Jerusalem (, ; , ) is the sector of Jerusalem that was held by Jordan during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, as opposed to the western sector of the city, West Jerusalem, which was held by Israel. Jerusalem was envisaged as a separ ...
of which the Old City is part, to be "
Occupied Palestinian Territory The Palestinian territories are the two regions of the former British Mandate for Palestine that have been militarily occupied by Israel since the Six-Day War of 1967, namely: the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and the Gaza Strip. The I ...
".


Armenian views

The "quiet political consensus" among the Armenians of Jerusalem, according to ''
The Economist ''The Economist'' is a British weekly newspaper printed in demitab format and published digitally. It focuses on current affairs, international business, politics, technology, and culture. Based in London, the newspaper is owned by The Eco ...
'', is that the Old City should be "neither Palestinian nor Israeli but rather an international 'space', governed by representatives of the three faiths ... and protected by the
United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoni ...
and other international bodies." According to Graham Usher, many Armenians cautiously identify with the Palestinian struggle, but few of them "would advocate exclusive Palestinian sovereignty over the Old City." Furthermore, Armenians consider the Armenian Quarter to be part of the Christian Quarter. This stance was reaffirmed by Armenia's Foreign Minister
Vartan Oskanian Vartan Minasi Oskanian ( hy, Վարդան Մինասի Օսկանյան; born February 7, 1954) is the former Foreign Minister of Armenia (1998–2008) and founder of the Civilitas Foundation. Early life and career Born into a wealthy Armenian ...
, who in late 2000 stated that Armenia was against the separation of the Armenian and Christian Quarters. Aram I, the head of the Holy See of Cilicia, one of the sees of the Armenian Apostolic Church (based in Lebanon), stated in a 2017 meeting with Lebanese President
Michel Aoun Michel Naim Aoun ( ar, ميشال نعيم عون ; born 30 September 1933) is a Lebanese politician and former military general who served as the President of Lebanon from 31 October 2016 until 30 October 2022. Born in Haret Hreik to a ...
that Jerusalem should be an "
open city In war, an open city is a settlement which has announced it has abandoned all defensive efforts, generally in the event of the imminent capture of the city to avoid destruction. Once a city has declared itself open the opposing military will b ...
for the three monotheistic religions: Jewish, Christian, and Muslim, and that the religious rights of these peoples should be protected within Jerusalem." Aram I also rejected the United States recognition of Jerusalem as capital of Israel.


U.S. Old City division proposal

At the
2000 Camp David Summit The 2000 Camp David Summit was a summit meeting at Camp David between United States president Bill Clinton, Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian Authority chairman Yasser Arafat. The summit took place between 11 and 25 July 2000 ...
, U.S. President
Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and again ...
proposed the division of the Old City, according to which the Armenian Quarter would be put under ''de jure'' Israeli sovereignty along with the Jewish Quarter, while the Palestinians would be granted a "certain degree of sovereignty" over the Christian and Muslim Quarters. Israeli Prime Minister
Ehud Barak Ehud Barak ( he-a, אֵהוּד בָּרָק, Ehud_barak.ogg, link=yes, born Ehud Brog; 12 February 1942) is an Israeli general and politician who served as the tenth prime minister from 1999 to 2001. He was leader of the Labor Party until Jan ...
conditionally embraced the proposal.


Palestinian views

Yasser Arafat rejected the US proposal at the 2000 Camp David Summit for the Old City's division and stated: "The Armenian quarter belongs to us. We and Armenians are one people." He told Clinton, "My name is not Yasir Arafat, it is Yasir Arafatian," making his name sound Armenian. "I will not betray my Armenian brothers," Arafat said about leaving the Armenian Quarter under Israeli rule. Commenting on his statements, historians
Barry Rubin Barry M. Rubin (28 January 1950 – February 3, 2014) was an American-born Israeli writer and academic on terrorism and Middle Eastern affairs. Career Rubin was the director of the Global Research in International Affairs (GLORIA) Center, editor ...
and Judith Colp Rubin wrote that "there was no reason to believe that the Armenians preferred his control ver Israeli control" In a 2011 meeting with the leaders of various Christian communities in Ramallah Palestinian President
Mahmoud Abbas Mahmoud Abbas ( ar, مَحْمُود عَبَّاس, Maḥmūd ʿAbbās; born 15 November 1935), also known by the kunya Abu Mazen ( ar, أَبُو مَازِن, links=no, ), is the president of the State of Palestine and the Palestinian Nati ...
stated: "The Palestinian leadership sticks to its position that considers the Armenian Quarter an integral part of east Jerusalem, the capital of the independent Palestinian state."(, ) According to the Palestine Papers, leaked by Al Jazeera in 2011, chief Palestinian negotiator
Saeb Erekat Saeb Muhammad Salih Erekat ( ar, صائب محمد صالح عريقات ''Ṣāʼib ʻUrayqāt''; also ''ʻRēqāt, Erikat, Erakat, Arekat''; 28 April 195510 November 2020) was a Palestinian politician and diplomat who was the secretary gener ...
proposed a geographical division of the Old City at an October 2009 meeting, according to which Israel would acquire sovereignty over the entire Jewish Quarter and "part of the Armenian Quarter."


Israeli and Jewish views

Israel maintains that all of Jerusalem ("complete and united"), including the Old City, is its capital according to the 1980
Jerusalem Law The Jerusalem Law (, ar, قانون القدس) is a common name of Basic Law: Jerusalem, Capital of Israel passed by the Knesset on 30 July 1980 (17th Av, 5740). Although the law did not use the term, the Israeli Supreme Court interpreted the ...
. In a 1975 article, Rabbi Yakov Goldman called for Israeli sovereignty over all of Old Jerusalem. He wrote of the Armenian Quarter:


Christian views

In 2000 the Armenian, Greek Orthodox and Latin Patriarchs of Jerusalem sent a "strongly worded" letter to the negotiators at the Camp David Summit, stating: "We regard the Christian and Armenian Quarters of the Old City as inseparable and contiguous entities that are firmly united by the same faith."
Pope Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the sovereig ...
, during his 2009 visit to St. James Cathedral, stated:
cachedPDF version


See also

* Armenians in Israel and Palestine * List of Armenian ethnic enclaves *
Armenia–Israel relations A bilateral relationship exists between Armenia and Israel. From 1993 to 2007, Armenia was served by the Embassy of Israel in Georgia. In 1996, Tsolak Momjian was appointed the honorary consul of Armenia in Jerusalem. Eleven years later, the resi ...
* Armenian–Jewish relations * Christian Quarter


References

;Notes ;Citations


Bibliography


Books & book chapters

* * * * * * *
cached


Journal articles

* * * * * *


Other

*
archived
*


External links



{{coord, 31.775, 35.2294444, format=dms, display=title, type:landmark_region:IL-JM Armenians in Jerusalem Armenian diaspora communities Ethnic enclaves in Israel Neighbourhoods of Jerusalem Quarters (urban subdivision) Old City (Jerusalem)