Armenian Quarter

For other Armenian quarters, see List of Armenian ethnic enclaves.

The Armenian Quarter in Jerusalem's Old City

The Armenian Quarter (Armenian: Հայոց թաղ, Hayots t'agh;[1][2][a] Arabic: حارة الأرمن, Harat al-Arman; Hebrew: הרובע הארמני, Ha-Rova ha-Armeni) is one of the four sectors of the walled Old City of Jerusalem. Located in the southwestern corner of the Old City, it can be accessed through the Zion Gate and Jaffa Gate. It occupies an area of 0.126 km² (126 dunam), 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 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'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" for the approximately 2,000 Armenian residents.

Though institutionally separate from the Greek Orthodox and 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 reason for the quarter's being perceived as separate from the rest of 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 speakers nor Palestinians.[b]

  1. ^ Ormanian 1931, p. 4.
  2. ^ Deyirmenjian, Sevan (6 May 2013). "Քանի մը դրուագ Երուսաղէմէն Սուրբ Յակոբի հովանիին ներքոյ". Jamanak (in Armenian). Istanbul. Archived from the original on 28 March 2016. ...պաշտօնապէս իսկ կոչուելով «Հայոց թաղ» անունով:{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
    "Երուսաղէմահայը (The Jerusalemite)". armenische-kirche.ch (in Armenian). Zürich: Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church in the German Switzerland. Archived from the original on 25 March 2016. Retrieved 11 November 2015. Իսկ հայոց թաղի բնակիչները...(, )
  3. ^ Hopkins 1971, p. 76.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference jpost was invoked but never defined (see the help page).


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