This site highlights an ongoing project concerning the Armenian diaspora communities worldwide. It represents only a small percentage of the material that have been catalogued. For each country/region, there is a brief history, a map selected randomly, and 10 entries also selected randomly.
Quick background:
The Armenian community of Syria (in Armenian: Syriahay) and the Armenian community of Lebanon (in Armenian: Libananahay) were formed in the first half of the 20th century, following three waves of migration. The first wave consisted of the Genocide survivors of the concentration camps in the Syrian deserts (Euphrates Valley). They started to arrive in the region in 1915 when Lebanon and Syria were still Ottoman provinces. The second wave that brought the largest number of refugees to the region started in 1921, after the French handed the province of Cilicia over to Turkey. The massive exodus of the Armenian population of Cilicia followed. The Armenian Apostolic Patriarchate of Cilicia also relocated from the city of Sis (now Kozan in Turkey) to Antelias; a town north of Beirut. At the time, the whole region, sometimes referred to as the Levant or the Northern Levant, was placed under French Mandate. The third wave of refugees arrived in 1939, when the French ceded the territory of Alexandretta (now Hatay) to Turkey.
Despite the fact that Armenian refugees had different social and economic backgrounds, originated from different cities and villages, spoke different dialects, and some were even Turkish-speakers, the experience of the Genocide drove them to stick together and regroup in Aleppo and Beirut. The efforts by the French administration to disperse them evenly in different cities and rural areas went largely in vain.
Map:
Map of Aleppo, 1958, modified to show the Armenian presence in the city at the end of the French Mandate (1943). This is prior to the “expatriation” of a part of the population to Soviet Armenia (1946-1948) that resulted in the closure of some schools and other community institutions. Not shown in the map are the Armenian sports, cultural, political and compatriotic associations.
1.
Armenian girls evacuated from the interior of Turkey arriving in Beirut by boat, 1922, photographer unknown. Armenians arrived in the region usually by feet, some by boat, by train or by camel. During the exodus of Alexandretta in 1939, cars and trucks were also used.
2.
The Armenian Orphans in Aleppo with Mrs. Norton, 1921, Vardan Derounian. V. Derounian (1888-1954) captured the plight of Armenian refugees in Aleppo as well as the general life in Syria under the French Mandate (1923−1946). Simultaneous to field photography, he founded Derounian Frères studio with his brothers Philippe and Hakob. Derounian was commissioned several times by the French High Commissioner for different projects. For a Syrian postage project, in particular, he photographed extensively the Assyrian, Hittite, Greek, Roman and Byzantine vestiges in the northern and eastern Syria. He also photographed the Arab population of Aleppo and its surrounding areas trying to capture their lifestyle and customs. In 1937, Derounian moved to Beirut where he opened a studio.
3.
Saint Sarguis/Sarkis Armenian Apostolic Cathedral in Damascus, 2010, Jan Smith. Situated next to the Bab Sharqi Gate in historical Damascus, the Cathedral was built in the early 1400s by the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem to serve the Armenian pilgrims on their way to Jerusalem. Over the centuries, the church went through several renovations and extensions, including a major reconstruction following a fire in 1867 that destroyed much of the building.
4.
The Expert Button-maker and Sculptor Ashot Tazian at his Shop in Bourj Hammoud, 2015, Adrian Hartrick, Al Jazeera. The Armenian communities in Syria and Lebanon are comprised mostly of craftsmen and women, artisans, and small and medium-size retailers. With the exception of the communities in rural areas such as Anjar in Lebanon and Kessab in Syria, craft production has become an integral part of the community culture.
5.
Singer Adiss Harmandian (1945-2019) was the forerunner of Armenian-Lebanese pop music that emerged in Beirut in the mid-1960s. The new music was joyful and modern with simple, oft-repeated lyrics, melodies that evoked Armenian folk traditions, amplified keyboards and guitars, and highly danceable rhythms. Despite the language barrier, Armenian-Lebanese pop music found enormous popularity throughout Lebanon. It also spread quickly to the Armenian diaspora communities worldwide.
6.
Hotel Baron, artist unknown, poster. Established in Aleppo in 1909 by Mazloumian brothers, Hotel Baron or Le Baron soon became one of the notable hotels in the Middle East, hosting world and regional leaders and celebrities (Lawrence of Arabia, Agatha Christi, Charles de Gaul, etc.). Mazloumians also sheltered and helped many Genocide survivors when they arrived in Aleppo starting in 1915. In a famous episode in 1915, Mazloumians hid prominent Armenian activists on-the-run at the same time as hosting high-ranked Ottoman dignitaries.
Self Portrait, 1951, Paul Guiragossian, gouache on paper, private collection (30 cm x 24 cm). P. Guiragossian (1926-1993) was one of Lebanon’s most celebrated and influential artists of the 20th century. He was initially known for his colorful and figurative paintings but gradually evolved towards abstractionism, combing contemporary western and traditional eastern influences.
8.
Mano, Bedo, and other basturma/basterma restaurants in Lebanon and Syria offer various dishes based on this highly seasoned, air-dried cured meat. Armenian refugees brought the tradition of making and eating basturma to the Levant. Initially, the local Arabs used to mock Armenians because of the strong smell which is mainly due to the garlic and fenugreek mixture that the meat is coated with during preservation. As the time passed by, however, they got familiarized with the taste as well as the smell, and basturma varieties became rather popular.
9.
The village of Yakubiyeh as seen from Saint Anna Armenian Apostolic Church, 2010, Aleppean Photography. The town of Kessab with more than ten surrounding villages, the village of Aramo in Latakia province, and the villages of Yakoubieh and Ghnemieh in Idlib province have been (up to the civil war) the rural Armenian-inhabited areas in Syria.
10.
The branch of Creditbank on Armenia Street, Bourj Hammoud, Lebanon, 2019. Bourj Hammoud is a unique linguistic island in Beirut, both in written and spoken language. As the residents are predominantly Armenian, the default language of oral communication is the Armenian. Furthermore, all the signs are inscribed in Armenian, in addition to Arabic and/or Latin. This includes businesses that are not owned by Armenians or do not cater exclusively to Armenian customers such as gas stations, branches of Lebanese banks, insurance companies, supermarkets, and so on.
