The Armenian Quarter (Armenian: Հայկական թաղամաս, Haykakan t'ağamas; Hebrew: הרובע הארמני; Arabic: حارة الأرمن) is one of the four quarters of the Old City of Jerusalem. The Armenian Quarter is the smallest of the four quarters, with the smallest number of residents. In 2001, there were about 2,500 Armenians living in Jerusalem, most of them living in and around the Patriarchate at the St. James Monastery, which occupies most of the Armenian Quarter. One of the central reasons for the existence of an Armenian quarter is the religion and ethnicity of the Armenians. Armenians, unlike the majority of Christians in Israel, are not Arab, rather they are ethnically and religiously Armenian. They have remained a homogeneous group, intermarrying over the years and keeping their culture intact.
Famous quotes containing the words armenian and/or quarter:
“The exile is a singular, whereas refugees tend to be thought of in the mass. Armenian refugees, Jewish refugees, refugees from Franco Spain. But a political leader or artistic figure is an exile. Thomas Mann yesterday, Theodorakis today. Exile is the noble and dignified term, while a refugee is more hapless.... What is implied in these nuances of social standing is the respect we pay to choice. The exile appears to have made a decision, while the refugee is the very image of helplessness.”
—Mary McCarthy (1912–1989)
“Somewhere between a third and a quarter of all people living in America today were born between 1946 and 1965 and if you think you’re tired of hearing about us, you should try being one of us.”
—Anna Quindlen (b. 1952)