A rooftop on Marash street
mapping Marash street
Monday, April 8, 2013
Sunday, April 7, 2013
Bourj Hammoud and its History
In the years between 1980 and the First World War, Armenian communities were driven out of their homeland. As they found themselves in different parts of the Middle East with a new life, Armenians had to sustain themselves. As refugees, they had the urge to reconstruct ‘Armenia’ because the locals spoke a different language and “refugees tended to rely on each other to look for the traditional communal ‘procedures’ in dealing with the crisis” (Migliorino, 2008:46). With the establishment of an independent greater Lebanon by the French in 1920, “The constitutional and political formula that resulted, created favorable conditions for the Armenians; the community seized them” (Migliorino, 2008:47). Consequently, 20000 Armenians settled in Beirut and 5000 in Greater Beirut including Bourj Hammoud. The first camps established in Beirut were in a swamp area that was very humid in the winter and hot and dusty in the summer. The camp was composed of
small huts built with the debris of packing crates covered with white iron from oil tanks. Consequently, each camp had its own director in charge of its administration, in separate municipalities that were still not legally recognized by the Lebanese state (Tachjian, 2006:122). As Refugees, Armenians were seeking to group themselves and live as a community, and were basically attracted to big cities such as Beirut, Damascus, and Aleppo. Once Settled, these communities created enclaves where they felt more secure, separating themselves from the local Lebanese population. The French officials supported this social behavior of the Armenians in the objective of gaining an electoral mass in their favor. Thus, they encouraged the shift from the refugee camps into a more settled urban neighborhoods. With the demand of the French officials in 1926, the Lebanese government lent funds to the Armenians for the construction of the established neighborhoods. In addition, with the help of the local, regional and international Armenian organizations, the community was able to buy the land and construct the settlements in three phases. The last phase in 1930, was the construction of Nor-Marash in Bourj Hammoud, which would finally relocate the remaining Armenian communities in the refugee camps. The name of the district suggests that the Armenian refugees in it came from the area of Marash in Turkish Armenia. After buying an area of 100 000 m2, the Armenian Reverend Boghos Aris, the head of the municipality of Bourj Hammoud at that time, parcelized the area into 100-yard lots to provide the refugees with affordable land. Consequently, the community built 2 to 3 storey buildings with backyard gardens and vines as sheds. In fact, most of the elderly remember old Nor-Marash’s rooftops full of grape vines. With time, Marash became a densely populated area. Consequently, the backyard gardens and vines disappeared leaving behind heavily built blocks.
In the years between 1980 and the First World War, Armenian communities were driven out of their homeland. As they found themselves in different parts of the Middle East with a new life, Armenians had to sustain themselves. As refugees, they had the urge to reconstruct ‘Armenia’ because the locals spoke a different language and “refugees tended to rely on each other to look for the traditional communal ‘procedures’ in dealing with the crisis” (Migliorino, 2008:46). With the establishment of an independent greater Lebanon by the French in 1920, “The constitutional and political formula that resulted, created favorable conditions for the Armenians; the community seized them” (Migliorino, 2008:47). Consequently, 20000 Armenians settled in Beirut and 5000 in Greater Beirut including Bourj Hammoud. The first camps established in Beirut were in a swamp area that was very humid in the winter and hot and dusty in the summer. The camp was composed of
small huts built with the debris of packing crates covered with white iron from oil tanks. Consequently, each camp had its own director in charge of its administration, in separate municipalities that were still not legally recognized by the Lebanese state (Tachjian, 2006:122). As Refugees, Armenians were seeking to group themselves and live as a community, and were basically attracted to big cities such as Beirut, Damascus, and Aleppo. Once Settled, these communities created enclaves where they felt more secure, separating themselves from the local Lebanese population. The French officials supported this social behavior of the Armenians in the objective of gaining an electoral mass in their favor. Thus, they encouraged the shift from the refugee camps into a more settled urban neighborhoods. With the demand of the French officials in 1926, the Lebanese government lent funds to the Armenians for the construction of the established neighborhoods. In addition, with the help of the local, regional and international Armenian organizations, the community was able to buy the land and construct the settlements in three phases. The last phase in 1930, was the construction of Nor-Marash in Bourj Hammoud, which would finally relocate the remaining Armenian communities in the refugee camps. The name of the district suggests that the Armenian refugees in it came from the area of Marash in Turkish Armenia. After buying an area of 100 000 m2, the Armenian Reverend Boghos Aris, the head of the municipality of Bourj Hammoud at that time, parcelized the area into 100-yard lots to provide the refugees with affordable land. Consequently, the community built 2 to 3 storey buildings with backyard gardens and vines as sheds. In fact, most of the elderly remember old Nor-Marash’s rooftops full of grape vines. With time, Marash became a densely populated area. Consequently, the backyard gardens and vines disappeared leaving behind heavily built blocks.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)