- Title: Armenian graves conserve centuries-old presence in Egypt
- Date: 17th September 2018
- Summary: CAIRO, EGYPT (SEPTEMBER 13, 2018) (REUTERS) ARMENIAN CEMETERY VARIOUS OF WORKER RENOVATING SMALL STATUE SITUATED ATOP GRAVE VARIOUS OF WORKERS RENOVATING GRAVES WORKER RENOVATING SMALL STATUE VARIOUS OF BUST BOARD MEMBER OF HOMENETMEN ARARAT ARMENIAN CLUB, FREDY RADIAN, AND ARCHAEOLOGIST AND CONSERVATION SPECIALIST, NAIRY HAMPIKIAN, WALKING IN CEMETERY (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic)
- Embargoed: 1st October 2018 17:15
- Keywords: Armenians in Egypt Armenian community in Egypt Armenian graveyard in Egypt historic Armenian burial ground Armenian cemetery
- Location: CAIRO, EGYPT
- City: CAIRO, EGYPT
- Country: Egypt
- Topics: Race Relations / Ethnic Issues,Society/Social Issues
- Reuters ID: LVA0018Y0MIQD
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Armenians in Cairo are close to completing the renovation of a 20th-century cemetery, which has for years been the final resting place for thousands of Armenians who lived in the Egyptian city.
The site is currently under renovation, with workers carefully fixing and cleaning up the old statues, busts and tombstones that sit on top of graves.
Armenians began settling in Egypt in the Fatimid era but were given a piece of land by Mohamed Ali Pasha in 1844 in an area now commonly known as old Cairo.
The size of the Armenian community in Egypt would fluctuate, driven by the country's political and economic situation.
It wasn't until after the events of World War One which led to the massacre of 1.5 million Christian Armenians by Ottoman Muslims in 1915, that a large number of Armenians fled to Egypt and other countries in the region.
Turkey accepts that many Christian Armenians were killed in clashes with Ottoman soldiers when Armenians lived in the empire ruled from Istanbul, but denies hundreds of thousands were killed and that this amounted to genocide.
The Armenians in Egypt thrived in the country's cosmopolitan cities such as Cairo and Alexandria, which were also home to Italian and Greek communities.
In 1924, the Armenian community in Egypt was granted another piece of land adjacent to the older one where they built the burial ground by fusing Egyptian, Armenian and European architectural designs.
"There was a period when this place was neglected, and the renovation project was a great initiative because the area was restored to what it once was. The first thing we did was remove the dust from all the pathways inside the cemetery and after that the signs that you see over there that were mostly scattered on the ground and covered in dust, appeared when we cleaned up," said Nairy Hampikian, an archaeologist and conservation specialist who was hired to oversee the renovation project.
Today, the Armenian community in Egypt has shrunk, and according to the president of Goganian Armenian cultural club in Cairo, Kevork Erzingatzian, is estimated to be made up some 3,000 people.
But the burial ground serves as a reminder of the Armenians' cultural and religious heritage.
"We found tombstones that date back to the 1830s, 40s, and 50s," Hampikian said.
The cemetery has been undergoing restoration work since 2014 and the project is scheduled for completion at the end of 2018.
It has so far cost approximately 10 million Egyptian pounds ($558,000). The Armenian Patriarchate of Cairo, with help from donations from the Armenian community, funded the project. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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