Fr. Hovagimian of Vienna Mekhitarists Interviewed

[Yervant1]

Fr. Hovagimian of Vienna Mekhitarists Interviewed

Reporter, 17 December 2014


For nearly 250 years the Mekhitarian/Mekhistarist Monastery of Vienna
has retained its status as one of the spiritual and cultural pillars
of the Armenian Diaspora. It was established in 1773, after a group of
monks separated from the mother Venice congregation to Trieste. In
1810 the congregation moved again, this time to Vienna, when Emperor
Francis I of Austria provided them with refuge in an abandoned
Capucine abbey in the St. Ulrich suburb of the city.

The monastery includes a church, museum, library, and school. The
library has the largest and the oldest collection of Armenian
newspapers: some 170,000 volumes. The museum has one of the most
significant Armenian coin collections, the oldest dating from the 4th
century B.C. It also has ancient tapestries, ceramics, maps, a huge
globe of the world, old Armenian silver works, Bibles, paintings by
Naghash Hovnatan and Aivazovsky, and cartoons by Saroukhan. Its 2,600
illuminated manuscript collection is the third-largest after that of
Armenia and Jerusalem. The library also has an estimated 500,000
books. The street where the monastery is located is called
Mechitaristengasse. It's in the 7th district of Vienna.

The Mekhitarist congregation was founded by Mekhitar Sebastatsi in
Constantinople in 1701 and after a short stay in the Peloponnesians,
established itself in the San Lazzaro island in Venice.

Keghart.com interviewed Father Vahan Hovagimian, the head of the
Vienna monastery, in late fall.

Keghart: Tell us about yourself, Father Hovagimian.

Father Hovagimian: I was born in Kamishle, Syria in 1958. I lived in
Lebanon and came to Vienna in 1972 to continue my schooling and to
study at the university. I was ordained priest in 1984. I am in charge
of the parish, the library and the museum. My title is "Hiurungal
Vartabed"-- guest priest, custodian.

Keghart: How many priests are there in the monastery?

FH: We have six priests here and 18 in other countries.

Keghart: What's the focus of the Mekhitarist mission?

FH: Our motto is "Ora e labors" ("prayers and work"). Praying in
community and working together. In addition to spiritual work, we
are--as always--occupied with education/schools, parish work, research,
and publishing.

Keghart: How many students do you have here?

FH: In 2000 we had 380 students. We now have almost 30. Our student
numbers shrank because of the availability of many schools around us.
The glory days of our school were from the post-WWII years until the
'60s.

Keghart: How are your relations with the local municipality?

FH: We have good relations with the municipality and with the state.
They support us when we ask for their financial help. When we ask for
help, say, for renovations, they help us, but only when the cost is
too high. They pay one-third of the cost. The monastery also has
private buildings and receives monthly rents from these buildings.

Keghart: I understand you have another source of revenues...liqueur production.

FH: We produce six types of very popular Mechitharine liqueurs. They
are generally speaking stomach-friendly beverages which are based on
ancient recipes our Founder Mekhitar Sebastatsi brought with him to
Europe. One of them is good for the heart. Others are for diabetics or
for people with stomach problems. We also have an appetizing bitter.
They come in .70L (22 Euros) and .35L (13 Euros).

Keghart: There are about 4,000 Armenians in Vienna, many of them
recent immigrants from Armenia. Can you talk about the community?

FH: For years our community had about 3,500 people, almost all from
Bulgaria, Hungary, Turkey, Lebanon, and Iran. In the past ten years
immigrants--mostly from Armenia, Azerbaijan and Syria--have joined the
community. I don't have exact population figures, but it's safe to say
that the number of the newcomers is 4,000.

Keghart: Can you tell us about Mekhitarian's great tradition of
research and publishing?

FH: We publish four to five books a year. Recent publications include
"Symposion, 200 Jahre Mechitharisten in Wien" and of course "Hantes
Amsoria 2014" and the "National Library Series" which started in 1889
and so far contain 227 volumes. We also continue with the "Studies of
the Armenian History" series. We sell "Hantes Amsoria" around the
world, including in Armenia. "Hantes Amsoria" and other journals can
be obtained through subscription.

Keghart: Considering your vast library of books and publications, do
Armenian and non-Armenian scholars utilize them for their research?

FH: The library is open to all--to "odars" and particularly to Armenians.

Keghart: How many visitors/tourists stop by the monastery every year?

FH: We get more than 3,000 visitors a year; almost 1,000 Armenian.

Keghart: Is it true that the Nazis occupied the monastery as their
offices during WWII? If yes, what did the monks do?

FH: I know that our monastery was used in the WWII as headquarters for
Marines. The monks went to the Middle East. The monastery treasures
and books were hidden in the basement of the monastery.

Keghart: Is the Mekhitarian Brotherhood growing?

FH: For three weeks recently I was in Venice, in our main mother
monastery at St. Lazzaro. We had the ordination of two young deacons.
We hope that in 2015 they can become priests. Two days after the
ordination of the deacons, four youngsters made their vows, to devote
their lives to God and to the Armenian Nation.

http://www.keghart.com/Report-Vienna-Mekhitarians

[Yervant1]

Euronews: The Armenian island of Venice

12:52, 21 Mar 2017

Siranush Ghazanchyan

http://www.armradio.am/en/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/San_Lazzaro-620x300.jpg

Euronews – The Armenian presence in Europe stretches from London to Larnaca, Lisbon to Lviv; the Armenian Catholic Mkhitarian Congregation is among the most impactful examples of that legacy and this year marks a three-century-long presence in one of Europe’s most iconic towns.

The vaporetto leaves from San Zaccaria to one of the most unique corners of Venice, a testament to the centuries of multi-cultural history of that magnificent city. The unique corner is really an island – Isola di San Lazzaro degli Armeni, or the Island of St. Lazarus of the Armenians. This year marks the 300th anniversary of that island becoming home to the Mkhitarian or Mechitarist Congregation.

Mkhitar was born in Sebastia (modern-day Sivas, in central Turkey) in 1676. He joined the Armenian Church at a time when it was facing the challenges of a modernising world. Drawn to Western Christianity and its already-established traditions of education and publishing, Mkhitar ran his own printing house in Constantinople (Istanbul), bringing together other like-minded individuals who longed to rejuvenate and invigorate a community at times struggling in the social and political milieu of the 17th century Ottoman Empire. Facing the resistance of the authorities, Abbot Mkhitar and his followers, who established the congregation named after the founder in 1700, spent some time moving from place to place – first to Greece, then up the Adriatic – before finally establishing themselves on what used to be a leper colony off Venice in 1717.

In the centuries that followed, the Mkhitarian fathers had a profound effect on research, education, and publishing in Europe generally, and for the Armenian world in particular. Still today, the monastery they founded continues to produce books; Venice is one of two cities in the world that can boast having published at least one Armenian book every year for three hundred years or more, with just a few interruptions (the other city being Istanbul). Whether as first-time publications of ancient manuscripts, translations of significant European works, or the other way around, the Armenian legacy has been showcased to the European and broader world through the efforts of these monks, and the doors of Europe have likewise been opened for Armenians thanks to their activities.

“The Mkhitarian Congregation has always served as a bridge,” says Father Serop Jamourlian, “both for tying the Armenian reality to the European world in terms of scholarship and spirituality, and also as a bridge of universal human values: it is a representative of the East in the West and the conveyor of Western ideas to the East.”

Perhaps the most significant impact the Congregation has had involves the development of language and identity. It was the Mkhitarian fathers who first published modern dictionaries of the Armenian language. Modern scientific approaches to research and education also owe much to these Armenian priests in Venice, who once upon a time ran a network of some thirty schools across Europe and the Middle East.

The reputation of San Lazzaro was so strong that Napoleon Bonaparte offered that monastery special permission to continue functioning even after he shut down other religious institutions in Venice in 1810. A few years later, the island’s most famous guest – Lord Byron – spent some months during 1816-1817 studying the Armenian language.

The Mechitarists have suffered some setbacks over the course of their rich history, such as a significant split in the Congregation that led to a second monastery being established in Vienna in 1811. They reunited in 2000. The two had meanwhile carried on Abbot Mkhitar’s mission diligently. Both Venice and Vienna are known as centres of learning for the Armenian world.

Although the Mkhitarian Congregation is not as active as it used to be, with a smaller membership and growing challenges within a generally more secular global environment, it continues to run four schools in places reflecting the footprint of the Armenian Diaspora: Beirut, Los Angeles, Buenos Aires, and Istanbul. A school was established in Yerevan, in the Republic of Armenia, in the year 2007 – a good indication of the renewal of Diaspora-Homeland ties since the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Special commemorations are planned for September during this 300th anniversary year – celebrations alongside the people of Italy and Venice. Father Serop emphasises that their welcoming and hospitable attitude towards the Armenians is based on the experience of many centuries of deep ties. What lies in store for the Mkhitarian Congregation? Father Serop says that the mission has always been and remains, “Service to the Armenian nation”.

http://www.euronews.com/2017/03/21/the-armenian-island-of-venice

http://www.armradio.am/en/2017/03/21/euronews-the-armenian-island-of-venice/

[Yervant1]

Panorama, Armenia

Oct 23 2017

Society 18:27 23/10/2017Armenia

Stamp dedicated to 300th anniversary of establishment of Mekhitarist Congregation put into circulation

“HayPost” CJSC on Monday cancelled and put into circulation a postage stamp dedicated to the 300th anniversary of establishment of the Mekhitarist Congregation on St. Lazarus Island. The cancellation took place in the premises of Matenadaran within the frameworks of events dedicated to the 300th anniversary of establishment of the Mekhitarist Congregation on St. Lazarus Island of Venice.

According to the press service of “HayPost” CJSC, the postage stamp depicts the image of the Mekhitarist Congregation on St. Lazarus Island.

The postage stamp with nominal value of 230 AMD is printed in “Cartor” printing house in France with the print run of 40 000 pcs. The author of the postage stamp’s design is the designer of “HayPost” CJSC Vahe Muradyan.

The stamp was cancelled by the Armenian Minister of Diaspora Hranush Hakobyan, the Deputy Minister of Transport, Communication and Information Technologies Arman Khachatryan, the President of the national Academy of Sciences of Armenia, the Pontifical legate of the Mekhitarist Congregation of Venice His Eminence, Archbishop Levon Zekiyan and Acting Chief Executive Officer of “HayPost” CJSC Haik Avagyan.

Date of issue: October 23, 2017
Designer: Vahe Muradyan
Printing house: Cartor, France
Size: 40,0 x 30,0 mm
Print run: 40 000 pcs

https://www.panorama.am/en/news/2017/10/23/Stamp-300th-anniversary-Mekhitarist-Congregation/1854374

[Yervant1]

Daily Mail, UK

Feb 28 2020

World's oldest surviving sword? 5,000-year-old Anatolian weapon is discovered in the Armenian Monastery of Venice after being mislabelled as 'Medieval'

• The sword from the end of the 4th century BC was held in a Venice museum
  
• A PhD student saw the sword in a medieval section but thought it much older


• The sword has been reassessed and dates from Eastern Turkey in 3000BC

By JONATHAN CHADWICK FOR MAILONLINE

One of the oldest swords in the world that was mislabelled in a museum on the Saint Lazarus Island, Venice, is around 5,000 years old, according to a new study.

The ultra-rare sword, which doesn’t resemble most ancient weapons in the world, was made around the year 3000BC and came from eastern Turkey.

However, the sword was contained in a cabinet as part of a medieval collection.

It was only when a local PhD student and expert in ancient weaponry noticed the sword that it was removed for further analysis to pinpoint its date.

The sword could have been a ceremonial object or an offensive weapon that was used in combat.

Another hypothesis is that it was part of a burial and was casually retrieved by townsfolk before ending up in a museum.

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The 5,000-year-old sword has no visible inscriptions, embellishments or distinctive features

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The sword was being kept inside the Mekhitarist Monastery on the Saint Lazarus Island in the Venetian Lagoon

Vittoria Dall’Armellina at Università Ca' Foscari in Venice saw the sword in a small cabinet surrounded by medieval items at the Mekhitarist Monastery on the Saint Lazarus Island in the Venetian Lagoon.

Mekhitarist Monastery, which is the headquarters of the Armenian Catholic Mekhitarist Congregation, includes museums, a church, residential quarters, a library, museums, picture gallery, printing plant and research facilities.

The weapon caught the eye of Dall’Armellina, whose master’s degree and PhD included a study on the origin and evolution of swords in the Ancient Near East.

She thought the weapon she had spotted didn’t look like a medieval artefact, but a much older sword, similar to those she had already encountered in her studies.

It looked similar to those found in the Royal Palace of Arslantepe in modern-day eastern Turkey, which would put its date to 5,000 years ago and make it one of the oldest swords in the world.

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PhD student Vittoria Dall’Armellina with Father Serafino Jamourlian, a friar who contributed to the study

But contrary to some Arslantepe specimens, the sword is not decorated, and has no visible inscriptions, embellishments or distinctive features.

Strong resemblance to the twin swords of Arslantepe, as well as information about its metallic composition, allowed experts to determine that the sword dates back to around the end of 4th and the beginning of the 3rd century BC.

Arslantepe swords are considered the oldest type of sword in the world.

The Saint Lazarus Island sword turned out to be made of arsenical bronze, an alloy frequently used before the widespread diffusion of bronze.

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Analysis of the sword, which is made of Arsenical bronze, an alloy frequently used before the widespread diffusion of bronze

Arsenical bronze uses copper and arsenic, as opposed to copper and tin or other constituent metals to make bronze.

This type of sword was found in a relatively small region in Eastern Anatolia, between the high course of the Euphrat and the Southern shore of the Black Sea.

Further analysis of trace elements could further pinpoint the exact source of the metal.

Due to less than optimal conditions, it has not been possible to detect any traces of usage.

But it’s believed the sword travelled from Trebizond in Turkey to Venice in the second half of the 19th century.

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Portrait of Father Ghevont Alishan published in Alishan's 1901 book 'Hayabadoom' - which means 'Armenian history'. Ghevond Alishan, a famous poet, writer, Mekhitarist monk, and zealous archeology scholar, died in Venice in 1901 and was gifted the sword before his death

This is due to an envelope containing a worn-out slip of paper that came with the sword.

The note on the paper, written in Armenian, talks about a donation to Father Ghevond Alishan, a famous poet and writer who died in Venice in 1901.

Ghevond Alishan, who was a friend of English art critic John Ruskin, was born in Constantinople – now Istanbul – and travelled to Venice before his death.

Further studies are being done on the weapon, the history of which is still 'shrouded with mystery'.

WHAT IS THE HISTORY OF ARSLANTEPE?

Arslantepe, meaning 'hill of lions', is surrounded by the Orduzu village and had a thriving population from the 6th millennium BC.

Its geographical position in eastern Turkey meant that it experienced both Roman and Byzantine influence.

This blend has led historians to credit Arslantepe for forging hierarcical societies, the first centralised political and economic systems and the origin of bureaucracy.

In the 1st millennium BC, it became the capital of the Hittite empire which ruled Anatolia - modern day Turkey, Syria and Lebanon.

Nine metal swords found in the ruins of Arslantepe have also led historians to believe that the ancient city was the first place the weapons were ever used.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-8055409/The-worlds-oldest-weapon-5-000-year-old-Anatolian-sword-discovered-Armenian-Monastery-Venice.html?fbclid=IwAR0AuJyfGLu8_akz5Kwc7GHF5aKkLelZxxudHZ7YJ9-RAeFXznjtEaI5yTM

[onjig]

https://www.extremetech.com/extreme/307899-5000-year-old-sword-discovered-in-venetian-monastery