THE ARMENIAN QUARTER

By entering the door of Jaffa, turn right, descend the alley over a few hundred meters, and you will arrive in the Armenian quarter, the smallest of the four areas of the city.

Located in the south-west of the old town, between the Christian quarter in the north and the Jewish Quarter in the east, the Armenian quarter was already in the crossfire. Armenians adopted Christianity from the third century (even before the Romans) and established important communities in the Holy Land: there are nearly 4 000 to live today, including 2 500 in Jerusalem. Tucked away from the premises of the Armenian Orthodox Patriarchate in Jerusalem, on the site of the convent Saint James, this quiet residential area is little frequented by tourists. There are several historic buildings there.

The most important is the Armenian Orthodox Cathedral of Saint-Jacques (accessible to the public every day from 15 am to 15 pm for evensong and Saturday morning from 6 am to 9 pm). It was built in the th century by Georgians and restored to the th by Armenians. The current building includes older elements, including the chapel of Saint-Menas, which dates back to the fifth century. In the cathedral, a small cut réduit accommodate, according to Armenian tradition, the head of Saint Jacques the Major, the first apostle martyr, who was beheaded on the site itself. According to the Armenians, a second Saint James, who could be the brother of Jesus, would be buried under the main altar of the church. It is the most beautiful church in Jerusalem, with its th-century tiled walls, carpets, oil lamps and the smell of incense that bathe the whole.

The Armenian church of the Saints-Archangels dates back to the th century.

You will also notice the Gulbenkian library, which houses more than 100 000 books, some centuries old. Unfortunately, these sites are not always accessible to the public.