Armenian Virtual College - AGBU

🔹 Under the leadership of AGBU’s second president, Calouste Gulbenkian, AGBU began a new humanitarian strategy to invest in operations closing down refugee camps and permanently relocating them to new neighborhoods in Syria and Lebanon. AGBU developed infrastructure and housing in regions including Ashrafiye, Bourdj Hammoud and Alexandretta - all of which continue to be thriving Armenian districts today.

To learn more about AGBU’s storied history, visit: https://agbu.org/who-we-are

✨When visiting Noravank, don’t forget to stop by a small museum located on the site of the medieval monastic complex. The museum’s exhibition is mostly dedicated to the manuscripts and reliefs created by Momik, a famous architect, miniature painter and sculptor from the late 13th to early 14th centuries.

✨While most of the objects on display are copies of the work of Momik and his contemporaries, they invite you to get up close to some of the reliefs carved on to the buildings in the Noravank complex.

✨There are displays that feature the process of mixing colors for illuminated manuscripts. The museum collection also includes some archaeological finds from the surrounding area. The entrance hall showcases photographs from the reconstruction of the Noravank in the late 1990s.

🌐Read more in the AVC e-book “Vayots Dzor”: 👉https://viewer.joomag.com/avc-multimedia-e-book-series-ebook4-vayots-dzor/0514237001496663091/p49?short=

🍇Today, we celebrate Grape Blessing Day (Khaghohorhnek).

✨Swipe through to explore the history, rituals, and symbolism behind this cherished Armenian tradition, and tell us how your community marks the occasion in the comments!

💐Some of the Yerevan residents still remember an old man dressed in rags, who used to stand on Abovian street, handing out roses to pretty girls or young couples. Some said he was a convicted criminal, others told about his unrequited love for a famous actress Arous Voskanyan and his friendship with Eghishe Charents.

✨The story of Karabala is one of the most beautiful legends of old Yerevan. He is still standing there, at his usual spot on Abovian street, smiling and offering flowers to passersby.

🇦🇲Stories from the city’s past and present in our e-book “Exploring Yerevan”: https://www.avc-agbu.org/type/ebook-learners/explorando-yerevan--um-olhar-para-o-passado-e-o-pr

🔹 After helping establish critical medical and educational institutions, AGBU’s next project was to build model farms and agricultural schools in Yeghvart and Dalma. Similar investments continued in various neighborhoods, with the most ambitious project being the establishment of Nubarashen, an entirely new village outside of Yerevan conceived by Boghos Nubar and designed by Alexander Tamanian to welcome new waves of immigration to Armenia. Construction of the homes, factories, school, hospital, and theater in Nubarashen began in 1931.

🔹The Yerevan Opera and Ballet Theatre is a masterpiece by the city’s main architect, Alexander Tamanyan. The architectural design of the building won the Grand Prix at the Paris World Exhibition in 1937. It blends forms and traditions of classical European and medieval Armenian architecture, with its circular layout and arches reminiscent of the 7th-century Zvartnots Cathedral.

🔹The construction of the building began in 1930. To many, it came as a surprise that Tamanyan decided to build his Opera House on the outskirts of Yerevan, in the gardens to the north of the city. No one could imagine then that someday it would become the heart of downtown Yerevan. On January 12, 1940, the grand building opened to the public with the performance of the “Almast” opera by Alexander Spendiaryan.

✨"I am studying daily, at an Armenian monastery, the Armenian language. … It is a rich language, however, and would amply repay any one the trouble of learning it. "- George Gordon Byron.

✨Did you know that in 1816, Byron traveled to Venice and began studying at the Armenian monastery on San Lazzaro degli Armeni? He found the language incredibly complex but rewarding, even co-authoring an English-Armenian grammar book during his stay!

👉https://archive.org/details/grammerarmeniane00awgerich/page/n5/mode/2up

🇦🇲How is your knowledge of Armenian?

‼️ The Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU) is deeply concerned about the persecution of the leadership of the Armenian Church. The Government of Armenia’s criminal indictment of His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians, and six other bishops—arising from an internal ecclesiastical matter concerning the leadership of a diocese—raises serious questions about religious freedom and respect for the rule of law.

📌Pictured here is the first page of the "Introduction to the Armenian Language" (Introductio ad Linguam Armeniam: De Alphabeto Armeniorum) featured in the “New Armenian-Latin Dictionary” (Dictionarium Novum Latino-Armenium).

📌Published in Rome in 1714 by the Sacra Congregatio de Propaganda Fide, this work was prepared by the Jesuit monk Hakob Vardapet (Jacobus Villotte).

📌The Congregation frequently published dictionaries, alphabets, and grammars to facilitate communication and preserve regional linguistic traditions.

📌Source: From the exhibition "To Know Wisdom and Instruction": The Armenian Literary Tradition a the Library of Congress.

🔹 Founded as the Near East Relief’s Youth League in 1931, AGBU took charge of AYA upon the request of Catholicos Papken I of the Holy See of Cilicia. The AYA promoted national cohesion through cultural, sports, scouting, and social activities for youth and young adults, and flourished throughout the Middle East, producing men and women who would later in life proudly go on to lead Armenian communities worldwide.