The Western Armenian mountainous, forested district Sparkert (Western Armenian: Spargerd) is situated in the lower reaches of the Moks River. There are few arable lands. Historically it corresponds to the district of Iskayir in the Mokk province. Sparkert was first mentioned in the 14th century. At the end of the 19th century the nahiye Sparkert had 29-30 villages. The main villages were Bast and Mets Hurak. Among the large villages of Sparkert were Kotents, Jazhvan and Tvaghus. Toponym According to Armenian legend, the apostle Bartholomew (Arm.: Բարդուղեմեոս առաքյալը) brought the image of the Holy Mother of God here, due to which the area [...]
Archives: Regions
Our CPT for the regions
Village Hasköy / Dêrxas in the Plain of Mush
Hasköy is located about 13 km southeast of the provincial capital Muş. The Karasu River flows north of Hasköy. Today, the previous village Hasköy is the main town of a county (İlçe) of the same name. Toponym The name Hasköy may derive from the Armenian word Kharts for swamp/wetland, which became Khars. The Kurdish placename is Dêrxas. History Near Hasköy was the ancient Carian city of Attuda (Greek Ἄττουδα). It maintained close relations with the neighboring city of Trapezopolis. Coin finds from the time of Augustus with the inscription Ἱερὰ Βουλὴ Ἀττουδέων show that the god Men was worshipped here. Population At the beginning of the [...]
Village Tsak / Dzak / Inn
In 2011 the Armenian-American journalist and historian Muriel Mirak(ian)-Weißbach visited this village and found only three siblings and their families. In 1915, there were 300 Armenian inhabitants. Below, with the kind permission of Muriel Mirak-Weißbach, we publish an excerpt from the memoirs of her mother, Artemis Yeramian Mirak. She is a survivor of the Ottoman-Young Turkish genocide against the Armenians. Artemis Yeramian Mirak(ian): Autobiography Artemis Yeramian Mirak: Story of My Life I was born on November 15, 1915(1), in the small village called Tsak, near the town of Arabkir, Turkey. My father, who had been away to the United States, for 15 years, had [...]
Kaza Arapgir / Արաբկիր – Arabkir
Arapgir (Arabkir): Armenian Apostolic Cathedral of the Holy Mother of God (13th century; blown up 1957) In ancient times, the Zimara-Malatya roads passed here, and in modern times, the Akn-Malatya roads. Administration In the Ottoman records of 1518, Arapgir was one of the twelve sancaks of the Diyarbekir province. At the time of Süleyman I, Arapgir became part of the Sivas province, and from 1834 it again belonged to Diyarbekir. From 1847 Arapgir became a part of the Vilâyet Mamuret ül-Aziz province (today Elazığ). Toponym The kaza’s administrative seat was also mentioned as Arabker. The name probably derives from the ancient city of Arabracnua, near [...]
Kaza Mamuret ül-Aziz / Harput-Mezre / Harput / Խարբերդ – Kharberd / Elazığ (alʿAzīz) / ܟܪܬܒܪܬ (ܟܪܦܘܬ) Kartbert (Kharput)
Ecumenical Genocide Memorial, Berlin: Commemorative Plate for Harput / Kharberd Surrounded by the mountain range of the Anti-Taurus, the Harput Plain is irrigated by the waters of the Euphrates and its tributary Aradzan (Trk.: Murat; Eastern Euhprates). At an altitude of 1,267 meters, the Harput Plain joins the Palu Plain to the east and the Malatya Plain to the west. The city of Harput was surrounded by 365 villages and settlements, which were fed by the three fertile ‘golden’ valleys of the vast plain of Harput. Wheat, corn, cotton, a variety of vegetables and foodstuffs were produced. The hillsides were covered with [...]