Bourj Hammoud

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Bourj Hammoud, Beirut

Area
- City	2.5 km² (1 sq mi)
Time zone	+2 (UTC)
- Summer (DST)	+3 (UTC)

Bourj Hammoud (or Burj Hammud) (Armenian: Պուրճ Համուտ, Arabic: برج حموﺪ) is a suburb in east Beirut, Lebanon heavily populated by Armenians. It is sometimes referred to as the heart of the Armenians of Lebanon as it is where most Armenians settled after the Armenian Genocide.

1 Geography
2 Civil War
3 Today
4 2006 Israel-Lebanon Conflict
5 Notable People from Bourj Hammoud
6 Schools
7 Churches
8 Institutions
9 Theatres
10 External links

[edit] Geography

Bourj Hammoud is located at 33°53′37″N, 35°32′25″E (35.540278, 33.893611) just off of the Autostradde, and surrounded by the communities of Dora, Karantina, Sin-el-Fil and Achrafieh.

[edit] Civil War

The Lebanese Civil War threatened the existence of Beirut's Armenian community. Armenians felt the need to stick close to each other during those turbulent times, thus, they assembled in Bourj Hammoud. Armenian presence was already evident in Bourj Hammoud, by its multiple Armenian community centers and churches.

During the Lebanese Civil War, many young Armenians took arms to defend it from the opposing forces. However, the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, the Armenian political party representing most Armenians in the diaspora, tried its best to remain neutral. Because of the Armenian policy of neutrality, Maronite militia groups kept the inhabitants of Bourj Hammoud under strong pressure.

[edit] Today

St. Vartan Church

Although the Armenian population of Lebanon in general, and of Bourj Hammoud in particular, diminished, the Armenians prevailed by keeping their presence strong in all facets of Lebanese life.

Most streets in Bourj Hammoud are named after various Armenian cities such as Yerevan, and rivers such as Arax. A lot of streets are also named after Armenian cities now located in Turkey, such as Marash, Sis, Adana, Arakadz, Cilicia, Armenia, Yerevan, etc. Many of these city names remind us of Historic Armenia in general, and Cilicia in particular, where most Lebanese Armenians hail from.

The Armenians of Lebanon speak Western Armenian, like most Levantine Armenians such as the Armenians of Syria. The major Armenian political parties, Ramgavar, Hnchag, Tashnag, and the Armenian denominations, Apostolic, Catholic and Evangelical, have institutions, clubs, and schools within the district of Bourj Hammoud. The present mayor is Mr. Antranig Msrlian.

[edit] 2006 Israel-Lebanon Conflict

During the 2006 Israel-Lebanon Conflict, refugees were welcomed into Bourj Hammoud's churches, schools and other complexes where they were fed and given shelters. After the conflict, Turkey proposed to send some of its troops to Lebanon as a part of UNIFIL. Most Armenians strongly opposed Turkish involvement. They held demonstrations against the Turkish force in Bourj Hammoud.