Armenians in Romania
Encyclopedia
Armenians
have been present in what is now Romania
and Moldova for over a millennium, and have been an important presence as traders since the 14th century. Numbering only in the thousands in modern times, they were culturally suppressed in the Communist era
, but have undergone a cultural revival since the Romanian Revolution of 1989
.
are dated by 967 (recorded presence in Cetatea Albă). Early Armenian Diaspora
s stemmed in the fall of the Bagratuni rule and other disasters, including the Mongol invasion
. In 1572-1574, Ioan Vodă cel Cumplit
was Hospodar
(Prince) of Moldavia, grandson of Stephen the Great
, son of Bogdan III
and his Armenian concubine Serpega.
Armenian expatriates were awarded tax exemption
s at different times in the Danubian Principalities
' history. Encouraged to settle as early as the 14th century, they became a familiar presence in towns, usually as the main entrepreneurs of the community - for this, in early modern Botoşani
and several other places, Armenians as a guild
were awarded political representation and degrees of self rule. A considerable number of noble families in the Principalities were of Armenian descent
.
In Bucharest
, an Armenian presence was first recorded in the second half of the 14th century - most likely, immigrants from the Ottoman
-ruled Balkans
, as well as from the area around Kamianets-Podilskyi
and towns in Moldavia; throughout the 19th century, a large part of Armenian Bucharesters had arrived from Rousse
, in present-day Bulgaria
. The Gregorian Armenians
were given the right to build a church around 1638 - it was rebuilt and expanded in 1685, but was damaged by the Russian attack during the 1768-1774 War with the Ottomans
.
Citizenship was bestowed on the community only with the decision taken by the international protectorate over the two countries (instituted after the Crimean War
and the ensuing Treaty of Paris
) to extend civil rights
to all religious minorities.
, clearly attested in a document issued by Hungarian
King Ladislaus IV the Cuman (late 13th century). Here, they were even allowed to found their own trading towns, the most notable one being Gherla
, called Armenopolis/Armenierstadt or Hayakaghak (Հայաքաղաք). The second important Armenian town in Transylvania is Dumbrăveni (Elisabethstadt).
Despite their increasing autonomy, the townspeople's adherence to the Roman Catholic Church
was nonetheless demanded (a conversion begun through the efforts of a Botoşani
-born prelate, Oxendius Vărzărescu), and further submitted to forced integration by the Habsburg monarchy
since the 18th century. The Armenian-Catholic Vicariate Gherla, an Apostolic vicariate
of the Armenian Rite
, is nowadays centered on Gherla, and is placed under the jurisdiction of the Romanian Roman-Catholic Church archbishops of Alba Iulia
.
Most Armenians from Transylvania has been magyarized
in the last half of the 19th century.
of 1915, Romania was the first state to officially provide political asylum to refugee
s from the area.
In 1940 about 40,000 Armenians lived in Romania. Under communist rule
, Armenians started to leave the country, and Nicolae Ceauşescu
's regime eventually closed all Armenian schools.
of the Armenian Apostolic Church
. The churches include:
There is also the Zamca Armenian Apostolic Monastery in Mânăstirea Zamca, Suceava.
Armenian Catholic churches and Parishes belonging to the Armenian Catholic Church
include:
is 721. There is one Armenian church in Bucharest on what is called Strada Armenească ("Armenian Street").
The community presently publishes the periodicals Nor Ghiank (in Armenian), Ararat, and the state-sponsored Lăcaşuri de cult.
, Catholicos of Armenia
. Another would be Iacob Zadig was a general in the Romanian Army during World War I
Armenians
Armenian people or Armenians are a nation and ethnic group native to the Armenian Highland.The largest concentration is in Armenia having a nearly-homogeneous population with 97.9% or 3,145,354 being ethnic Armenian....
have been present in what is now Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
and Moldova for over a millennium, and have been an important presence as traders since the 14th century. Numbering only in the thousands in modern times, they were culturally suppressed in the Communist era
Communist Romania
Communist Romania was the period in Romanian history when that country was a Soviet-aligned communist state in the Eastern Bloc, with the dominant role of Romanian Communist Party enshrined in its successive constitutions...
, but have undergone a cultural revival since the Romanian Revolution of 1989
Romanian Revolution of 1989
The Romanian Revolution of 1989 was a series of riots and clashes in December 1989. These were part of the Revolutions of 1989 that occurred in several Warsaw Pact countries...
.
Danubian Principalities
The earliest traces of Armenians in what was later MoldaviaMoldavia
Moldavia is a geographic and historical region and former principality in Eastern Europe, corresponding to the territory between the Eastern Carpathians and the Dniester river...
are dated by 967 (recorded presence in Cetatea Albă). Early Armenian Diaspora
Armenian diaspora
The Armenian diaspora refers to the Armenian communities outside the Republic of Armenia and self proclaimed de facto independent Nagorno-Karabakh Republic...
s stemmed in the fall of the Bagratuni rule and other disasters, including the Mongol invasion
Mongol invasion of Europe
The resumption of the Mongol invasion of Europe, during which the Mongols attacked medieval Rus' principalities and the powers of Poland and Hungary, was marked by the Mongol invasion of Rus starting in 21 December 1237...
. In 1572-1574, Ioan Vodă cel Cumplit
Ioan Voda cel Cumplit
John III the Terrible , also John III the Brave or John III the Armenian was Voivode of Moldavia between February 1572 and June 1574....
was Hospodar
Hospodar
Hospodar or gospodar is a term of Slavonic origin, meaning "lord" or "master".The rulers of Wallachia and Moldavia were styled hospodars in Slavic writings from the 15th century to 1866. Hospodar was used in addition to the title voivod...
(Prince) of Moldavia, grandson of Stephen the Great
Stephen III of Moldavia
Stephen III of Moldavia was Prince of Moldavia between 1457 and 1504 and the most prominent representative of the House of Mușat.During his reign, he strengthened Moldavia and maintained its independence against the ambitions of Hungary, Poland, and the...
, son of Bogdan III
Bogdan III cel Orb
Bogdan III the One-Eyed or Bogdan III the Blind Voivode of Moldavia from July 2, 1504 to 1517.-Family:He was born in Huşi as the son of Voivode Ştefan cel Mare and his wife Maria Voichiţa...
and his Armenian concubine Serpega.
Armenian expatriates were awarded tax exemption
Tax exemption
Various tax systems grant a tax exemption to certain organizations, persons, income, property or other items taxable under the system. Tax exemption may also refer to a personal allowance or specific monetary exemption which may be claimed by an individual to reduce taxable income under some...
s at different times in the Danubian Principalities
Danubian Principalities
Danubian Principalities was a conventional name given to the Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia, which emerged in the early 14th century. The term was coined in the Habsburg Monarchy after the Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca in order to designate an area on the lower Danube with a common...
' history. Encouraged to settle as early as the 14th century, they became a familiar presence in towns, usually as the main entrepreneurs of the community - for this, in early modern Botoşani
Botosani
Botoșani is the capital city of Botoșani County, in northern Moldavia, Romania. Today, it is best known as the birthplace of many celebrated Romanians, including Mihai Eminescu and Nicolae Iorga.- Origin of the name :...
and several other places, Armenians as a guild
Guild
A guild is an association of craftsmen in a particular trade. The earliest types of guild were formed as confraternities of workers. They were organized in a manner something between a trade union, a cartel, and a secret society...
were awarded political representation and degrees of self rule. A considerable number of noble families in the Principalities were of Armenian descent
Cultural heritage
Cultural heritage is the legacy of physical artifacts and intangible attributes of a group or society that are inherited from past generations, maintained in the present and bestowed for the benefit of future generations...
.
In Bucharest
Bucharest
Bucharest is the capital municipality, cultural, industrial, and financial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at , and lies on the banks of the Dâmbovița River....
, an Armenian presence was first recorded in the second half of the 14th century - most likely, immigrants from the Ottoman
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
-ruled Balkans
Balkans
The Balkans is a geopolitical and cultural region of southeastern Europe...
, as well as from the area around Kamianets-Podilskyi
Kamianets-Podilskyi
Kamyanets-Podilsky or Kamienets-Podolsky is a city located on the Smotrych River in western Ukraine, to the north-east of Chernivtsi...
and towns in Moldavia; throughout the 19th century, a large part of Armenian Bucharesters had arrived from Rousse
Rousse
Ruse is the fifth-largest city in Bulgaria. Ruse is situated in the northeastern part of the country, on the right bank of the Danube, opposite the Romanian city of Giurgiu, from the capital Sofia and from the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast...
, in present-day Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
. The Gregorian Armenians
Armenian Apostolic Church
The Armenian Apostolic Church is the world's oldest National Church, is part of Oriental Orthodoxy, and is one of the most ancient Christian communities. Armenia was the first country to adopt Christianity as its official religion in 301 AD, in establishing this church...
were given the right to build a church around 1638 - it was rebuilt and expanded in 1685, but was damaged by the Russian attack during the 1768-1774 War with the Ottomans
Russo-Turkish War, 1768-1774
The Russo-Turkish War of 1768–1774 was a decisive conflict that brought Southern Ukraine, Northern Caucasus, and Crimea within the orbit of the Russian Empire.-Background:...
.
Citizenship was bestowed on the community only with the decision taken by the international protectorate over the two countries (instituted after the Crimean War
Crimean War
The Crimean War was a conflict fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the French Empire, the British Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Sardinia. The war was part of a long-running contest between the major European powers for influence over territories of the declining...
and the ensuing Treaty of Paris
Treaty of Paris (1856)
The Treaty of Paris of 1856 settled the Crimean War between Russia and an alliance of the Ottoman Empire, the British Empire, Second French Empire, and the Kingdom of Sardinia. The treaty, signed on March 30, 1856 at the Congress of Paris, made the Black Sea neutral territory, closing it to all...
) to extend civil rights
Civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...
to all religious minorities.
Transylvania
Armenians were present from early on in TransylvaniaTransylvania
Transylvania is a historical region in the central part of Romania. Bounded on the east and south by the Carpathian mountain range, historical Transylvania extended in the west to the Apuseni Mountains; however, the term sometimes encompasses not only Transylvania proper, but also the historical...
, clearly attested in a document issued by Hungarian
Kingdom of Hungary
The Kingdom of Hungary comprised present-day Hungary, Slovakia and Croatia , Transylvania , Carpatho Ruthenia , Vojvodina , Burgenland , and other smaller territories surrounding present-day Hungary's borders...
King Ladislaus IV the Cuman (late 13th century). Here, they were even allowed to found their own trading towns, the most notable one being Gherla
Gherla
Gherla is a city in Cluj County, Romania . It is located 45 km from Cluj-Napoca on the Someşul Mic River, and has a population of 24,083....
, called Armenopolis/Armenierstadt or Hayakaghak (Հայաքաղաք). The second important Armenian town in Transylvania is Dumbrăveni (Elisabethstadt).
Despite their increasing autonomy, the townspeople's adherence to the Roman Catholic Church
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
was nonetheless demanded (a conversion begun through the efforts of a Botoşani
Botosani
Botoșani is the capital city of Botoșani County, in northern Moldavia, Romania. Today, it is best known as the birthplace of many celebrated Romanians, including Mihai Eminescu and Nicolae Iorga.- Origin of the name :...
-born prelate, Oxendius Vărzărescu), and further submitted to forced integration by the Habsburg monarchy
Habsburg Monarchy
The Habsburg Monarchy covered the territories ruled by the junior Austrian branch of the House of Habsburg , and then by the successor House of Habsburg-Lorraine , between 1526 and 1867/1918. The Imperial capital was Vienna, except from 1583 to 1611, when it was moved to Prague...
since the 18th century. The Armenian-Catholic Vicariate Gherla, an Apostolic vicariate
Apostolic vicariate
An apostolic vicariate is a form of territorial jurisdiction of the Roman Catholic Church established in missionary regions and countries that do not have a diocese. It is essentially provisional, though it may last for a century or more...
of the Armenian Rite
Armenian Rite
The Armenian Rite is an independent liturgy. This rite is used by both the Armenian Apostolic and Armenian Catholic Churches; it is also the rite of a significant number of Eastern Catholic Christians in the Republic of Georgia....
, is nowadays centered on Gherla, and is placed under the jurisdiction of the Romanian Roman-Catholic Church archbishops of Alba Iulia
Alba Iulia
Alba Iulia is a city in Alba County, Transylvania, Romania with a population of 66,747, located on the Mureş River. Since the High Middle Ages, the city has been the seat of Transylvania's Roman Catholic diocese. Between 1541 and 1690 it was the capital of the Principality of Transylvania...
.
Most Armenians from Transylvania has been magyarized
Magyarization
Magyarization is a kind of assimilation or acculturation, a process by which non-Magyar elements came to adopt Magyar culture and language due to social pressure .Defiance or appeals to the Nationalities Law, met...
in the last half of the 19th century.
Romania
After the Armenian genocideArmenian Genocide
The Armenian Genocide—also known as the Armenian Holocaust, the Armenian Massacres and, by Armenians, as the Great Crime—refers to the deliberate and systematic destruction of the Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire during and just after World War I...
of 1915, Romania was the first state to officially provide political asylum to refugee
Refugee
A refugee is a person who outside her country of origin or habitual residence because she has suffered persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or because she is a member of a persecuted 'social group'. Such a person may be referred to as an 'asylum seeker' until...
s from the area.
In 1940 about 40,000 Armenians lived in Romania. Under communist rule
Communist Romania
Communist Romania was the period in Romanian history when that country was a Soviet-aligned communist state in the Eastern Bloc, with the dominant role of Romanian Communist Party enshrined in its successive constitutions...
, Armenians started to leave the country, and Nicolae Ceauşescu
Nicolae Ceausescu
Nicolae Ceaușescu was a Romanian Communist politician. He was General Secretary of the Romanian Communist Party from 1965 to 1989, and as such was the country's second and last Communist leader...
's regime eventually closed all Armenian schools.
Religion
The Armenian Apostolic (Orthodox) community has a number of churches and a monastery in Romania. The church is under the jurisdiction of the See of Holy EchmiadzinEchmiadzin
Mother Cathedral of Holy Etchmiadzin is a 4th century Armenian church in the town of Ejmiatsin, Armenia. It is also the central cathedral of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin of the Armenian Apostolic Church....
of the Armenian Apostolic Church
Armenian Apostolic Church
The Armenian Apostolic Church is the world's oldest National Church, is part of Oriental Orthodoxy, and is one of the most ancient Christian communities. Armenia was the first country to adopt Christianity as its official religion in 301 AD, in establishing this church...
. The churches include:
- Episcopia Armeana Hreshdagabedats Mayr Yegeghetsi (Apostolic) (Bucharest)
- Holy Cross (Hagigadar) Armenian Apostolic Monastery of the Wishes (Manastirea Dorintelor, Suceava)
- Armenian Apostolic Church of Iasi (Biserca Armeana Sf. Maria, Iasi)
- Armenian Apostolic Church of Constanta (Biserca Armeana Sf. Maria, Constanta)
- St. Trinity Armenian Apostolic Church of Botosani (Biserca Sf. Treime, Botosani)
- Adormition of Holy Mother Armenian Apostolic Church of Botosani (Biserca Adormirea Maicii domnului, Botosani)
- Armenian Apostolic Church of Brăila
There is also the Zamca Armenian Apostolic Monastery in Mânăstirea Zamca, Suceava.
Armenian Catholic churches and Parishes belonging to the Armenian Catholic Church
Armenian Catholic Church
|- |The Armenian Catholic Church is an Eastern Catholic Church sui juris in union with the other Eastern Rite, Oriental Rite and Latin Rite Catholics who accept the Bishop of Rome as spiritual leader of the Church. It is regulated by Eastern canon law...
include:
- Parohia Armeano Catolica (Gherla, Szamosujvar)
- Parohia Armeano Catolica (Dumbraveni, Erzsebetvaros)
- Parohia Armeano Catolica (Gheorgheni, Gyergyoszentmiklos)
- Parohia Armeano Catolica (Frumoasa, Csikszepviz)
Present situation
Since 1989, there has been an Armenian cultural and political revival in Romania. As of 2002, there were 1,780 Armenians, many of them from mixed families, and the number of native speakers of the Armenian languageArmenian language
The Armenian language is an Indo-European language spoken by the Armenian people. It is the official language of the Republic of Armenia as well as in the region of Nagorno-Karabakh. The language is also widely spoken by Armenian communities in the Armenian diaspora...
is 721. There is one Armenian church in Bucharest on what is called Strada Armenească ("Armenian Street").
The community presently publishes the periodicals Nor Ghiank (in Armenian), Ararat, and the state-sponsored Lăcaşuri de cult.
Notable Romanians of Armenian descent
Romanians of Armenian descent have been very active in Romanian political, cultural, academic and social life. Most worthy of mention would be for example His Holiness Vazgen IVazgen I
His Holiness Vazgen I was the Catholicos of the Armenian Apostolic Church between 1955 and 1994, in one of the longest reigns of the Armenian Catholicoi. A native of Romania, he began his career as a philosopher, before becoming a Doctor of Theology and a member of the local Armenian clergy...
, Catholicos of Armenia
Catholicos of Armenia
The Catholicos of All Armenians is the chief bishop of Armenia's national church, the Armenian Apostolic Church. It is one of the Oriental Orthodox churches that do not accept the decisions of the Council of Chalcedon. The first Catholicos of All Armenians was Saint Gregory the Illuminator...
. Another would be Iacob Zadig was a general in the Romanian Army during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
External links
Ararat online- List of Armenian Churches in Romania Marius Vasileanu, "Biserica Armeană" ("The Armenian Church"), in AdevărulAdevarulAdevărul is a Romanian daily newspaper, based in Bucharest. Founded in 1871 and reestablished in 1888, it was the main left-wing press venue to be published during the Romanian Kingdom's existence, adopting an independent pro-democratic position, advocating land reform and universal suffrage...