The fourth quarter of Jerusalem

 When watching our first assignment of the semester, the film Jerusalem (2013), I found myself especially interested in one particular part of it. The film itself obviously made a case for Jerusalem being a melting pot of different cultures and their respective religion intermingling and yet separate in their own ways, with the Old City at the center of it all containing important landmarks of all cultures meshed into less than a square mile. Of course, I already knew three of the four "quarters" of Jerusalem, and I thought that was mostly the extent of it - Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. But the film mentioned that the Old City also includes landmarks for Armenians, who celebrate in their own church. I was curious, so I decided to dig further into this topic.

As Albert Benhamou, a licensed tour guide for the city of Jerusalem, writes, "The reason why the word 'quarter' exists is precisely because the holy city was divided into four" (Benhamou). Armenians, however, are the stand-outs, as they are Christians themselves, which brings to mind the question of why they have their own quarter at all. To understand that, we must look back to the history of the Armenian nation. As Behnamou writes, the Armenians adopted Christianity as their religion as early as the fourth century, before the Roman Empire authorized and later made it their state religion. The Armenians, as the "first nation in the world to adopt Christianity" (Benhamou), were given the honor of their own quarter in Jerusalem, and have many landmarks of their own in the Old City. 

Throughout history, Armenians in Jerusalem have faced their share of adversity - from initially struggling to have protection and rights to holy sites recognized until Queen Melisande (who was of Armenian origin) intervened, to the 400 years of Ottoman rule over Jerusalem (1516-1917) where Armenians feared retaliation from the ruling state, resulting in very solid, fortified walls constructed around the Armenian quarter.

The most important locale in the Old City to the Armenians is none other than what was referred to in the documentary as "their own church" - the Saint James Cathedral, "dedicated to James the Just, brother of Jesus, founder of the first church in Jerusalem" (Benhamou). It is also here where James, as well as Jaques (another apostle of Jesus), were executed by order of the Romans; James's head is kept under the altar by Armenian tradition. Other Armenian landmarks in this quarter include the Great Mosaic, depicting 40 medallions picturing mostly birds, and the New Armenian Museum, which follows the history of Armenia. 

Ultimately, despite following the Christian faith, Armenians possess their own rich history and culture that has earned them their own quarter and several significant landmarks in Jerusalem, and their faith and history will continue to be celebrated for years to come.

Source: https://jerusalemspring2024.blogspot.com/2024/01/how-four-quarters-came-to-be.htm