The Armenian Apostolic Church has had a long history in Jerusalem, extending to the present day.
Their distinct history began in the year 638 AD, after the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem, Sophronius, passed away without a successor. This lack of a new bishop led the Armenian Apostolic Church to appoint their own bishop, Abraham I. Later, their appointed bishops were made patriarchs.
In the 12th century, approximately 1,000 Armenians moved to Jerusalem, and during the Mamluk era some time later, negotiations between Armenian Patriarch Sarkis I and the governor of Egypt allowed for the wall around the Harat al-Arman in the Old City of Jerusalem to be built.
The wall of the Harat al-Arman
In addition to this, the following text was engraved in Arabic onto the western gate of the quarter:
“The order of our master Sultan Jaqmaq, which stipulates that the taxes levied recently by the town governor regarding the payment by the Armenian enclosure [Dayr al-Armani] be canceled…and it has been requested that this cancellation be recorded in the Honored Books in the year 854 of the Hijra (1451 C.E.). Anyone who renews the payment or again takes any tax of extortion is damned, son of the damned, and the curse of Allah will be upon him.”
Afterwards, in the 17th century, there were some internal clergy schisms regarding the other seats of patriarchs in the Armenian Church.
During the late 17th and 18th centuries, the Church purchased more land/property in Jerusalem, and expanded the properties they owned. The St. James Monastery was renovated/enlarged, the then-incumbent Patriarch Hovhannes VII bought land south of St. James Cathedral, and renovations were underway for the entire Harat al-Arman.
St. James Cathedral
A printing press was set up in 1833, and a seminary was established in 1857. As well, a boys’ school and a girls’ school, which were set up in 1840 and 1862 respectively, were joined in 1869 to form the Holy Translators’ School, which was the first coeducational school in Jerusalem.
After the Armenian Genocide, many Armenians fled to the Holy Land, and this substantially increased the Armenian population of Jerusalem.
The number of Jerusalemite Armenians went from 2,000 or so in the early 1920’s, to almost 8,000 in 1948. Many fled during the Nakba and aftermath, and by 1967, only 2,000–3,000 were left.
Today, the Armenian Quarter is under the jurisdiction of the Armenian Apostolic Patriarchate, and as of 2007, has a population of 2,424.
Modern sign, Harat al-Arman
Sign in traditional Armenian
So Armenians have a rich history in Jerusalem.
