Armenian Community Of Jerusalem
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The Armenian Quarter (, ; , ''Harat al-Arman''; , ''Ha-Rova ha-Armeni'') is one of the four sectors of the walled Old City of
Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...
. Located in the southwestern corner of the Old City, it can be accessed through the
Zion Gate Zion Gate (, ''Sha'ar Zion'', , ''Bab Sahyun''), also known in Arabic as Bab Harat al-Yahud ("Jewish Quarter Gate") or Bab an-Nabi Dawud ("Prophet David Gate"), is one of the seven historic Gates of the Old City of Jerusalem. History Zion Gate wa ...
and
Jaffa Gate Jaffa Gate (; , "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 from 1538, and for the wide gap in the city wall adjacent to it to the ...
. It occupies an area of 0.126 km² (126
dunam A dunam ( Ottoman Turkish, Arabic: ; ; ; ), also known as a donum or dunum and as the old, Turkish, or Ottoman stremma, was the Ottoman unit of area analogous in role (but not equal) to the Greek stremma or English acre, representing the amo ...
), 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 Jewish Quarter may refer to: *Jewish quarter (diaspora), areas of many cities and towns traditionally inhabited by Jews *Jewish Quarter (Jerusalem), one of the four traditional quarters of the Old City of Jerusalem *Jewish Quarter (), a popular name ...
. 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 CE, 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 birth, place of origin. The word is used in reference to people who identify with a specific geographic location, but currently resi ...
community outside the Armenian homeland. Gradually, the quarter developed around the
St. James Monastery The Cathedral of Saint James (, , or Saint Jacob's Armenian Cathedral) is a 12th-century Armenian church in the Armenian Quarter of Jerusalem, near the quarter's entry Zion Gate. The cathedral is dedicated to two of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus ...
—which dominates the quarter—and took its modern shape by the 19th century. The monastery houses the
Armenian Apostolic Church The Armenian Apostolic Church () is the Autocephaly, autocephalous national church of Armenia. Part of Oriental Orthodoxy, it is one of the most ancient Christianity, Christian churches. The Armenian Apostolic Church, like the Armenian Catholic ...
's Jerusalem Patriarchate, which was established as a diocese in the 7th century CE. 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 (polity), 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 oppor ...
" for the approximately 2,000 Armenian residents. Though institutionally separate from the
Greek Orthodox Greek Orthodox Church (, , ) is a term that can refer to any one of three classes of Christian Churches, each associated in some way with Greek Christianity, Levantine Arabic-speaking Christians or more broadly the rite used in the Eastern Rom ...
and
Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
Christians, the Armenians consider their quarter to be part of the
Christian Quarter The Christian Quarter (Hebrew: הרובע הנוצרי, romanized: ''Ha-Rova ha-Notsri;'' ) is one of the four quarters of the walled Old City of Jerusalem, the other three being the Jewish Quarter, the Muslim Quarter and the Armenian Quarte ...
. 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 reason for the quarter's being perceived as separate from the rest of the Christian Quarter has to do with the distinct language and culture of the Armenians, who, unlike the majority of Christians in Jerusalem, are not
Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...
speakers nor
Palestinians Palestinians () are an Arab ethnonational group native to the Levantine region of Palestine. *: "Palestine was part of the first wave of conquest following Muhammad's death in 632 CE; Jerusalem fell to the Caliph Umar in 638. The indigenou ...
.


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 Zion Gate (, ''Sha'ar Zion'', , ''Bab Sahyun''), also known in Arabic as Bab Harat al-Yahud ("Jewish Quarter Gate") or Bab an-Nabi Dawud ("Prophet David Gate"), is one of the seven historic Gates of the Old City of Jerusalem. History Zion Gate wa ...
and
Jaffa Gate Jaffa Gate (; , "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 from 1538, and for the wide gap in the city wall adjacent to it to the ...
. 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: ; ; ; ), also known as a donum or dunum and as the old, Turkish, or Ottoman stremma, was the Ottoman unit of area analogous in role (but not equal) to the Greek stremma or English acre, representing the amo ...
), 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. The Armenian district of Jerusalem originated around the Armenian monastery in the south part of the modern Armenian Quarter. The convention of the boundaries of the Armenian Quarter may have originated in its current form in the 1841 British Royal Engineers map of Jerusalem, or at least Reverend George Williams' subsequent labelling of it. The city had previously been divided into many more ''harat'' (: "quarters", "neighborhoods", "districts" or "areas", see wikt:حارة). Jewish immigration from the mid-19th century onwards meant the Jewish quarter began to expand into the cartographically-defined boundaries of the Armenian Quarter. The table below shows the evolution of both the Armenian Quarter and the Jewish Quarter, from 1495 up until the modern system:


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 birth, place of origin. The word is used in reference to people who identify with a specific geographic location, but currently resi ...
community outside the Armenian homeland.
Philip Marsden Philip Marsden, also known as Philip Marsden-Smedley (born 11 May 1961), is an English travel writer and novelist. He is a grandson of Sir James Granville le Neve King of Campsie, 3rd Baronet (1898 –1989), a nephew of Sir John Christopher King ...
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 A scriptorium () was a writing room in medieval European monasteries for the copying and illuminating of manuscripts by scribes. The term has perhaps been over-used—only some monasteries had special rooms set aside for scribes. Often they ...
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 Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...
broke off from
Chalcedonian Christianity Chalcedonian Christianity is the branches of Christianity that accept and uphold theological resolutions of the Council of Chalcedon, the fourth ecumenical council, held in AD 451. Chalcedonian Christianity accepts the Christological Definiti ...
by rejecting the dual nature of Christ, which was agreed upon in the
Council of Chalcedon The Council of Chalcedon (; ) 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, Bithynia (modern-day Kadıköy, Istanbul, Turkey) from 8 Oct ...
of 451. Thus, the Armenians found themselves in direct confrontation with the
Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived History of the Roman Empire, the events that caused the ...
. Emperor
Justinian I Justinian I (, ; 48214 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was Roman emperor from 527 to 565. His reign was marked by the ambitious but only partly realized ''renovatio imperii'', or "restoration of the Empire". This ambition was ...
persecuted whom he considered to be
Monophysite Monophysitism ( ) or monophysism ( ; from Greek , "solitary" and , "nature") is a Christological doctrine that states that there was only one nature—the divine—in the person of Jesus Christ, who was the incarnated Word. It is rejected as ...
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 () is a title given for the reigns of first caliphs (lit. "successors") — Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, and Ali collectively — believed to Political aspects of Islam, represent the perfect Islam and governance who led the ...
after a siege in 637. Until this point, Jerusalem had a single Christian bishop. In 638 CE, Armenians established their own archbishop, Abraham I. He was officially recognized by
Rashidun Caliph The Rashidun Caliphate () is a title given for the reigns of first caliphs (lit. "successors") — Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, and Ali collectively — believed to represent the perfect Islam and governance who led the Muslim community and po ...
Umar Umar ibn al-Khattab (; ), also spelled Omar, was the second Rashidun caliph, ruling from August 634 until his assassination in 644. He succeeded Abu Bakr () and is regarded as a senior companion and father-in-law of the Islamic prophet Mu ...
. 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, also known as Cilician Armenia, Lesser Armenia, Little Armenia or New Armenia, and formerly known as the Armenian Principality of Cilicia, was an Armenian state formed during the High Middle Ages by Armenian ...
. In 1311, during
Mamluk Mamluk or Mamaluk (; (singular), , ''mamālīk'' (plural); translated as "one who is owned", meaning "slave") were non-Arab, ethnically diverse (mostly Turkic, Caucasian, Eastern and Southeastern European) enslaved mercenaries, slave-so ...
rule, Archbishop Sarkis (1281–1313) assumed the title of patriarch according to a decree by Sultan
al-Nasir Muhammad Al-Malik an-Nasir Nasir ad-Din Muhammad ibn Qalawun (), commonly known as an-Nasir Muhammad (), or by his kunya: Abu al-Ma'ali () or as Ibn Qalawun (1285–1341) was the ninth Mamluk sultan of the Bahri dynasty who ruled Egypt between 129 ...
. 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 The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding ...
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 Mujīr al-Dīn al-ʿUlaymī (; 1456–1522), often simply Mujir al-Din, was a Jerusalemite '' qadi'' and historian whose principal work chronicled the history of Jerusalem and Hebron in the Middle Ages.Little, 1995, p. 237.van Donzel, 1994, p. ...
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 Ottoman may refer to: * Osman I, historically known in English as "Ottoman I", founder of the Ottoman Empire * Osman II, historically known in English as "Ottoman II" * Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empir ...
tolerated the presence of non-Muslim,
Dhimmi ' ( ', , 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 obligation under ''s ...
, 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 The Walls of Jerusalem (, ) surround the Old City of Jerusalem (approx. 1 km2). In 1535, when Jerusalem was part of the Ottoman Empire, Suleiman the Magnificent, Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent ordered the ruined city walls to be rebuilt. T ...
were completed on the orders of Sultan
Suleiman the Magnificent Suleiman I (; , ; 6 November 14946 September 1566), commonly known as Suleiman the Magnificent in the Western world and as Suleiman the Lawgiver () in his own realm, was the List of sultans of the Ottoman Empire, Ottoman sultan between 1520 a ...
. 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 printing, print medium (such as paper or cloth), thereby transferring the ink. It marked a dramatic improvement on earlier printing methods in whi ...
. 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 Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, political theorist, economist, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. He is best-known for the 1848 pamphlet '' The Communist Manifesto'' (written with Friedrich Engels) ...
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 Armenians, 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 t ...
survivors from
Cilicia Cilicia () is a geographical region in southern Anatolia, extending inland from the northeastern coasts of the Mediterranean Sea. Cilicia has a population ranging over six million, concentrated mostly at the Cilician plain (). The region inclu ...
( 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 The Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic (ArSSR), also known as Soviet Armenia, or simply Armenia, was one of the Republics of the Soviet Union, constituent republics of the Soviet Union, located in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. 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 Arab–Israeli War, also known as the First Arab–Israeli War, followed the 1947–1948 civil war in Mandatory Palestine, civil war in Mandatory Palestine as the second and final stage of the 1948 Palestine war. The civil war becam ...
, Armenian Quarter housed Armenian refugees from all over Palestine. An Armenian civil guard, armed with "
makeshift weapon A weapon, arm, or armament is any implement or device that is used to deter, threaten, inflict physical damage, harm, or kill. Weapons are used to increase the efficacy and efficiency of activities such as hunting, crime (e.g., murder), law en ...
s", was formed to defend the quarter from the
Haganah Haganah ( , ) was the main Zionist political violence, Zionist paramilitary organization that operated for the Yishuv in the Mandatory Palestine, British Mandate for Palestine. It was founded in 1920 to defend the Yishuv's presence in the reg ...
shelling of the Old City. More than forty Armenians were killed in the fighting.


Israeli period

Jerusalem's Old City came under Israeli control in the aftermath of the
Six-Day War The Six-Day War, also known as the June War, 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states, primarily United Arab Republic, Egypt, Syria, and Jordan from 5 to 10June ...
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 (polity), 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 oppor ...
" for the Armenian residents. The Arab-Israeli conflict significantly affected the quarter's politically uninvolved Armenian population. According to
Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide writing in 16 languages. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency ...
, 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 Graham Usher, a Palestine-based foreign correspondent of several Western outlets, 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.


Jewish settlement

During the Jordanian rule of 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 West Jerusalem or Western Jerusalem (, ; , ) refers to the section of Jerusalem that was controlled by Israel at the end of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. As the city was divided by the Green Line (Israel's erstwhile border, established by ...
and the holy sites within the Jewish Quarter and the
Western Wall The Western Wall (; ; Ashkenazi Hebrew pronunciation: ''HaKosel HaMa'arovi'') is an ancient retaining wall of the built-up hill known to Jews and Christians as the Temple Mount of Jerusalem. Its most famous section, known by the same name ...
has made Armenian properties a prime real estate in Israeli eyes.


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 an English language, English-language Israeli broadsheet newspaper based in Jerusalem, Israel, founded in 1932 during the Mandate for Palestine, British Mandate of Mandatory Palestine, Palestine by Gershon Agron as ''Th ...
'' 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 The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) is a United Nations (UN) body established in December 1991 by the General Assembly to strengthen the international response to complex emergencies and natural disaster ...
(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 wrote in 2000 in a publication of the
Beirut Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...
-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 newspaper published weekly in printed magazine format and daily on Electronic publishing, digital platforms. It publishes stories on topics that include economics, business, geopolitics, technology and culture. M ...
'' 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 Haredi Judaism (, ) is a branch of Orthodox Judaism that is characterized by its strict interpretation of religious sources and its accepted (Jewish law) and traditions, in opposition to more accommodating values and practices. Its members are ...
on Armenian clergy, students and teachers as
hate crime Hate crime (also known as bias crime) in criminal law involves a standard offence (such as an assault, murder) with an added element of bias against a victim (individual or group of individuals) because of their physical appearance or perceived ...
. 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 remained closed to visitors "because the municipality addelayed approving construction of the entrance."


Cows' Garden land lease

In July 2021, a plot of land called Cows' Garden (''Goveroun Bardez'') was leased by the Armenian Patriarchate to Danny Rubenstein, a Jewish businessman from Australia. The area is used as a car park and for group dinners. 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 (), known in Armenian as simply the Mother See (Մայր Աթոռ, ''Mayr At’oř''), is the governing body of the Armenian Apostolic Church. It is headquartered around Etchmiadzin Cathedral in Vagharshapat (Etc ...
, 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 Catholicos Garegin II (, also spelled Karekin; born 21 August 1951) is the Catholicos of All Armenians, the supreme head of the Armenian Apostolic Church, since 1999. In 2013 he was unanimously elected the Oriental Orthodox head of the World Cou ...
urged Patriarch
Nourhan Manougian Patriarch Nourhan Manougian (; born 24 June 1948) is the 97th Armenian Patriarch of Jerusalem serving the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem of the Armenian Apostolic Church. He is the 97th in the succession of Armenian Patriarchs of Jerusalem, ...
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 Ararat Samveli Mirzoyan (; born 23 November 1979) is an Armenian politician currently serving as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia. Before this, he served as President of the National Assembly of Armenia from January 2019 to August 20 ...
discussed the issue with his counterparts from Jordan (
Ayman Safadi Ayman Safadi (Arabic: أيمن الصفدي ''ʾAyman Aṣ-ṣafadī''; born 15 January 1962) is a Jordanian politician who is Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs. Safadi is a member of the Jordanian Druze community. Biograph ...
), Palestine (
Riyad al-Maliki Riyad al-Maliki (; born 31 May 1955) is a Palestinian politician and former minister of information, government spokesperson, and minister of foreign affairs of the Palestinian National Authority in its 13th government. He also resumed office ...
), and Israel (
Yair Lapid Yair Lapid ( ; born 5 November 1963) is an Israeli politician of the centrist Yesh Atid party and a former journalist who has been the Leader of the Opposition (Israel), Leader of the Opposition since January 2023, having previously served in t ...
).
Surveyors Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the terrestrial two-dimensional or three-dimensional positions of points and the distances and angles between them. These points are usually on the ...
started working at the site in 2023 and a sign was posted listing XANA Capital Group, a Dubai-registered Israeli firm. The Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem released a statement on 1 November 2023 announcing the cancellation of the agreement to lease the property. Bulldozers arrived soon afterwards and began tearing up the carpark portion of the leased land. The validity of the contract is being challenged by the Armenian Church through the Israeli courts.


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 Arab–Israeli War, also known as the First Arab–Israeli War, followed the 1947–1948 civil war in Mandatory Palestine, civil war in Mandatory Palestine as the second and final stage of the 1948 Palestine war. The civil war becam ...
, 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 an ongoing military and political conflict about Territory, land and self-determination within the territory of the former Mandatory Palestine. Key aspects of the conflict include the Israeli occupation ...
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 intensified following the breakout of the
First Intifada The First Intifada (), also known as the First Palestinian Intifada, was a sustained series of Nonviolent resistance, non-violent protests, acts of civil disobedience, Riot, riots, and Terrorism, terrorist attacks carried out by Palestinians ...
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 Bert Vaux (; born November 19, 1968) is an American linguist, currently a professor of phonology and morphology at the University of Cambridge. Previously, he taught for nine years at Harvard and three years at University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee ...
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 Bert Vaux (; born November 19, 1968) is an American linguist, currently a professor of phonology and morphology at the University of Cambridge. Previously, he taught for nine years at Harvard and three years at University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee ...
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 has been significantly influenced by
Palestinian Arabic Palestinian Arabic (also known as simply Palestinian) is part of a dialect continuum comprising various mutually intelligible varieties of Levantine Arabic spoken by Palestinians in Palestine, which includes the State of Palestine, Israel, and t ...
. Those Armenians whose ancestors came from Turkey following the 1915 genocide speak Turkish-influenced
Western Armenian Western Armenian ( ) 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 based on the Yerevan Arme ...
.


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 (Սուրբ Թորոս եկեղեցի, ''Surb T'oros yekeğetsi''). According to local tradition, the church was built between 1270 and 1289 by
Hethum I Hethum I (Armenian: Հեթում Ա; 1213 – 21 October 1270) ruled the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia (also known as "Little Armenia") from 1226 to 1270. He was the son of Constantine of Baberon (d. 1263) and Princess Alix Pahlavouni of Lampron (a ...
, the
Armenian King of Cilicia The Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia was a state formed in the Middle Ages by Armenian refugees, who were fleeing the Seljuk invasion of Armenia. Poghosyan, S.; Katvalyan, M.; Grigoryan, G. et al. ''Cilician Armenia'' (Կիլիկյան Հայաստա ...
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 (; June 28, 1901 – July 10, 1996) was an Armenian-American industrial engineer, businessman, and philanthropist who spent most of his career in Detroit, Michigan. He was the founder of the Masco Corporation, which in 1969 w ...
. *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 Toros Roslin (, ); –1270) was the most prominent Armenian manuscript illuminator in the High Middle Ages.Parry, 399 Roslin introduced a wider range of narrative in his iconography based on his knowledge of western European art while contin ...
(c. 1210–1270), the most prominent Armenian manuscripts illuminator (four of the extant seven are in Jerusalem), ''kondak''s (
pastorals The pastoral genre of literature, art, or music depicts an idealised form of the shepherd's lifestyle – herding livestock around open areas of land according to the seasons and the changing availability of water and pasture. The target aud ...
) issued by the
Catholicos A catholicos (plural: catholicoi) is 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 Greek ( ...
and the Patriarch in 1064,
Saladin Salah ad-Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub ( – 4 March 1193), commonly known as Saladin, was the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty. Hailing from a Kurdish family, he was the first sultan of both Egypt and Syria. An important figure of the Third Crusade, h ...
's writ instructing Muslims not to harm Armenians in the wake of him recapturing Jerusalem from the
Crusaders The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding ...
in 1187, the ''
Ashtiname of Muhammad The ''Ashtiname'' of Muhammad, also known as the Covenant or Testament (''Testamentum'') of Muhammad, is a charter or writ granting protection and other privileges to Christians, given to the monks of Saint Catherine's Monastery in the Sinai Pe ...
'' 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 Johannes Gensfleisch zur Laden zum Gutenberg ( – 3 February 1468) was a German inventor and craftsman who invented the movable-type printing press. Though movable type was already in use in East Asia, Gutenberg's invention of the printing ...
'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 Armenians, 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 t ...
at the hands of the
Ottomans Ottoman may refer to: * Osman I, historically known in English as "Ottoman I", founder of the Ottoman Empire * Osman II, historically known in English as "Ottoman II" * Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empir ...
.''Edward & Helen Mardigian Museum''
at armenian-jerusalem.org. Accessed 2021-09-16.
*
Calouste Gulbenkian Library The Calouste Gulbenkian Library, located within the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem, opened in 1932, and reopened in 2007, after an extensive renovation. The library is considered "one of the world's most comprehensive Armenian intellectual re ...
(Կիւլպէնկեան Մատենադարան), founded in 1925 through financing of British-Armenian businessman and philanthropist
Calouste Gulbenkian Calouste Sarkis Gulbenkian (; ; 23 March 1869 – 20 July 1955) was an Ottoman-born British Armenian businessman and philanthropist. He played a major role in making the petroleum reserves of the Middle East available to Western development a ...
, 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 (), 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 Armenian manuscripts. It was establ ...
in Yerevan, Armenia. In 1931, the number of cataloged manuscripts stood at 2,720.


Other

*Armenian Garden


Non-Armenian

;Churches *The
Syriac Orthodox The Syriac Orthodox Church (), also informally known as the Jacobite Church, is an Oriental Orthodox denomination that originates from the Church of Antioch. The church currently has around 4-5 million followers. The church upholds the Mia ...
St. Mark's Monastery is located on Ararat St. The
Assyrians Assyrians (, ) are an ethnic group indigenous to Mesopotamia, a geographical region in West Asia. Modern Assyrians share descent directly from the ancient Assyrians, one of the key civilizations of Mesopotamia. While they are distinct from ot ...
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 Maronites (; ) are a Syriac Christianity, Syriac Christian ethnoreligious group native to the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant (particularly Lebanon) whose members belong to the Maronite Church. The largest concentration has traditionally re ...
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 (), also known as the Citadel (), is an ancient citadel and contemporary museum, located near the Jaffa Gate entrance to the Old City of Jerusalem, Old City of Jerusalem. The citadel that stands today dates to the Mamluk Sult ...
(Citadel)


Political status and views

The
United Nations General Assembly The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; , AGNU or AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as its main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ. Currently in its Seventy-ninth session of th ...
considers
East Jerusalem East Jerusalem (, ; , ) is the portion of Jerusalem that was Jordanian annexation of the West Bank, held by Jordan after the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, as opposed to West Jerusalem, which was held by Israel. Captured and occupied in 1967, th ...
, of which the Old City is part, to be "
Occupied Palestinian Territory The occupied Palestinian territories, also referred to as the Palestinian territories, consist of the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and the Gaza Strip—two regions of the former British Mandate for Palestine that have been occupi ...
".


Armenian views

The "quiet political consensus" among the Armenians of Jerusalem, according to ''
The Economist ''The Economist'' is a British newspaper published weekly in printed magazine format and daily on Electronic publishing, digital platforms. It publishes stories on topics that include economics, business, geopolitics, technology and culture. M ...
'', 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 the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...
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." 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 (born February 7, 1955) is an Armenian politician and diplomat who served as the Foreign Minister of Armenia from 1998 to 2008 under President Robert Kocharyan. He is the founder of the Civilitas Foundation. Early life ...
, who in late 2000 stated that Armenia was against the separation of the Armenian and Christian Quarters.
Aram I Aram I (; born Bedros Keshishian [] on 8 March 1946) has been the head of the Holy See of Cilicia, Catholicosate of the Great House of Cilicia since 1995 and he resides in Antelias, Lebanon. Bibliography Aram I has written the following books: ...
, the head of the
Holy See of Cilicia The Armenian Catholicosate of the Great House of Cilicia () is an autocephalous Oriental Orthodox church. Since 1930, the Catholicosate of the Great House of Cilicia has been headquartered in Antelias, Lebanon. Aram I is the Catholicos of C ...
, one of the sees of the Armenian Apostolic Church (based in Lebanon), stated in a 2017 meeting with Lebanese President Michel Aoun 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 ...
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 On December 6, 2017, the United States, United States of America officially recognized Jerusalem as the capital city of the Israel, State of Israel.Proclamation 9683 of December 6, 201782 FR 58331 American president Donald Trump, who signed t ...
.


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 an ...
, U.S. President
Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...
proposed a 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 ( ; born Ehud Brog; 12 February 1942) is an Israeli former general and politician who served as the Prime Minister of Israel, prime minister from 1999 to 2001. He was leader of the Israeli Labor Party, Labor Party between 1997 and 20 ...
conditionally embraced the proposal, while Arafat rejected.


Palestinian views

Yasser Arafat Yasser Arafat (4 or 24 August 1929 – 11 November 2004), also popularly known by his Kunya (Arabic), kunya Abu Ammar, was a Palestinian political leader. He was chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) from 1969 to 2004, Presid ...
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 (Hebrew: בארי רובין) (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 Af ...
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 (; born 15 November 1935), also known by the Kunya (Arabic), kunya Abu Mazen (, ), is a Palestinian politician who has been serving as the second president of Palestine and the President of the Palestinian National Authority, P ...
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 The Palestine Papers is a collection of confidential documents about the Israeli–Palestinian peace process leaked to Al Jazeera, which published them between 23 and 26 January 2011. Nearly 1,700 documents from the office of the main PLO neg ...
, leaked by Al Jazeera in 2011, chief Palestinian negotiator
Saeb Erekat Saeb Muhammad Salih Erekat ( ''Ṣāʼib ʻUrayqāt''; also ''ʻRēqāt, Erikat, Erakat, Arekat''; 28 April 195510 November 2020) was a Palestinian politician and diplomat who was the secretary general of the executive committee of the PLO from ...
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 Jerusalem Law (, ) is a common name of Basic Law: Jerusalem, Capital of Israel passed by the Knesset on 30 July 1980. Although the law did not use the term, the Israeli Supreme Court interpreted the law as an effective annexation of East Jeru ...
. 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 BenedictXVI (born Joseph Alois Ratzinger; 16 April 1927 – 31 December 2022) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 19 April 2005 until his resignation on 28 February 2013. Benedict's election as p ...
, during his 2009 visit to St. James Cathedral, stated:
cachedPDF version


See also

*
Armenians in Israel and Palestine Armenians in Israel and Palestine (; ) make up a community of approximately 5,000–6,000 Armenians living in both Israel and Palestine. In 1986, it was estimated that 1,500 Armenians lived in the city of Jerusalem. According to a 2006 surv ...
* Armenian ceramics in Jerusalem *
List of Armenian ethnic enclaves This is a list of Armenian ethnic enclaves, containing cities, districts, and neighborhoods with predominantly Armenian population, or are associated with Armenian culture, either currently or historically. Most numbers are estimates by various o ...
*
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 reside ...
*
Armenian–Jewish relations Armenian–Jewish relations are complex, often due to political and historical reasons. Comparisons The Armenians and the Jews have often been compared in both academic and non-academic literature since at least the early 20th century, often in ...
*
Christian Quarter The Christian Quarter (Hebrew: הרובע הנוצרי, romanized: ''Ha-Rova ha-Notsri;'' ) is one of the four quarters of the walled Old City of Jerusalem, the other three being the Jewish Quarter, the Muslim Quarter and the Armenian Quarte ...


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 the Middle East Neighbourhoods of Jerusalem Quarters (urban subdivision)