Bitlis and Muş

The first book of the 14-volume Historical Cities and Armenians series, which examines the Armenian heritage in the ancient cities of Anatolia... Bitlis and Mus, or Pages and Daron as they are called in the Armenian tradition, were among the most important centers of the historical Armenian homeland. Tracing the three-thousand-year-old existence of Armenians living in the geography of Anatolia, the Caucasus and Mesopotamia is still of great importance today in terms of understanding the history of the region in all its dimensions. In this book, which sheds light on the history of Bitlis and Mus, starting from ancient times until the 20th century, the political, cultural, religious and social heritage of the Armenian people and the institutions they created are examined.

The manuscripts that allow us to reach the source of this history were produced in the monasteries established in Mus, the first center of Armenian Christianity. These fertile lands, starting from the shores of Lake Van and extending to the Mus Plain and further down to the Siirt and Sasun mountains, have seen the feudal rule of noble Armenian dynasties such as the Mamigonians and Pakradunis, as well as the dominance of the Byzantines, Ottomans and Kurdish emirs throughout history. There have been important breakthroughs in art and architecture in the region over the centuries. In modern times, in addition to the bantukhd who left their homeland in the hope of finding work and employment elsewhere, there were also those who had to leave their homeland due to fear of life; Among their children, world-famous writers such as William Saroyan emerged. While Armenian life in Bitlis and Mus largely came to an end with the massacres in 1915-16, a great cultural heritage was left behind, almost entirely in ruins.

Bitlis and Mus help us understand this multi-layered history. Other cities that will take part in the series are as follows: Van, Harput, Erzurum, Sivas, Diyarbakir and Urfa, Cilicia, Black Sea, Istanbul, Kars and Ani, Izmir, Kayseri and Cappadocia, Asia Minor, Musa Dag.
(From the Promotional Bulletin)



Number of Pages: 240

Year of Printing: 2016


Language: Turkish
Publisher: Aras Publishing

Prepared by: Lora Sari
Prepared by: Robert Koptaş

First Print Year: 2016

Number of Pages: 240

Language Turkish