Armenian

f Vaspurakan f

(Click below for the Armenians of the North Bay photos from 2013, 2014, 2015 & 2016)

Armenian's of the North Bay Photos

Other spellings of Vaspuragan/Vaspouragan/Vaspourakan/Vasbouragan/Vasbourakan

Van, Varak, Karatenskeuy/Nanik & Our Armenian Past

( Click here for many popular & helpful Armenian websites )

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Photo of old Van 1869

Click this photo ............ thank you Christine

(Photo taken from 'Le Tour de Monde')

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(Click on any of the small thumbnail Photos to enlarge)

Below is my favorite Armenian website

http://www.houshamadyan.org/

A project to reconstruct Ottoman Armenian town & village life

Visit the Houshamadyan website to see how life was for the Armenian's in Turkey prior to 1915.

Varak Monastery Van local villagers of Van, prior to 1900

Varakavank, year unknown. Photo from AGBU Nubar Library, Paris. If anyone knows what year this could have been I would appreciate your contacting me. All other photos showing this view show NO trees on the road to the Monastery (center of photo).

Van Fortress 1842 Source: Charles Texier from the Houshamadyan.org's website

The city of Van (above) viewed from a plane (beginning of WWI) Source: Rafael de Nogales from the Houshamadyan.org's website

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I am always looking for connections to anyone with family history from Karatenskeuy, Van, Armenia (Turkey), (Karatens is Aradents & Keuy is
village in Turkish), Nanik (current Kurdish village name), Varak or Van areas.

The few family names I have are:

Sarkis Bedrosian, his father & mother, Bedros Honoian & Shoushan Garibian, Nazlu (Movsesian) Bedrosian, wife of Sarkis.

Harout (Haroutune or Haroutuin) Bedrosian, brother to Sarkis. Harout later moved to Harpoot prior to coming to America in 1912.

My Grandmother Nazlu's birth village, now Nanik was renamed many times through the years. (below are the known names)

Aradents, Aratents, Konde Shanik, Haratents, Karatenskeuy, Nanizants, Nanik, Nanikan, Nanikants, and Nanikyants, Turkey.

Below is Van / Wan / Tushpa (other known names for Van)

1884 & 1848

The photo prints are from the www.antique-prints.de website, which has many antique maps, books and prints.

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The map below has Varakavank (Varak Monastery), Yedikilse (Warak Wank) on the map listed just below Van, about 9 km's southeast of Van, circled in yellow.

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The spelling is either Varag or Varak, same with Varagavank and Varakavank. I assume it is the Eastern and Western spellings.

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Armenian postage stamps 1920-22: Armenian Stamps

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At the bottom of my Armenian page is a link to my handmade "Wire People" & "Wine Glass Marker People"

1897 ....young men and boys from orphanage in Van or Varak.

I think it is Varak, as my Great Uncle Harutuin Bedrosian is in this photo and was schooled there. He is about age 10 or 11.

Harutuin & Sarkis Bedrosian, 1895 ......were schooled in Varakavank. Harutuin, pictured, was about 8 or 9 in this photo.

This is showing Harutuin, another boy... ..and an older man on horse, in 1895. I assume it is a good friend of Harutuin and a teacher he must have respected. I was given these three photos by my loving cousin George Bedrosian's wife, Dolores Oro-Bedrosian. George was well known in the San Francisco area for his playing of the Oud.

The painting is from the photo above it.

Below are photos sent to me by Christine Gardon. She was kind enough to share them so they could be viewed by all who come upon my website. The first two are from her grandfather, Vahram Gakavian.

View of Van & Mount Varag Ariel view of Van

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These 4 photos (below) also were sent to me by Christine and were taken by Francois Balsan in 1937.

Fortified walls (Courtines du Gheurab) Kurdish village, south of Lake Van region of Bitlis Van

Van Fortress

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Andraniks "Road to Armenia" our ancient land with the music of Hasmik Harutyunyan & many pictures in his photo gallery.

Andraniks journeys through Western Armenia

(Van, Varakavank, Old City & Fortress + Akhtamar)

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More of Varak & Van

These 3 photos of Varak & old Van (photo on right) are from Lilyan Chooljian.

Colorized version of Varakavank unsure where I obtained it.

Old City of Van gone now after the 1915 Turkish Genocide .........Rock of Van

Aikestan, Van, Lilyan's Mother's families home now lived in by a Kurdish family.

Also from Lilyan Chooljian, is a 1995 photo of Van.

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These two photos are from NAASR (National Association for Armenian Studies and Research) of Belmont, Mass., and John Donelian and his family website:

Varakavank (Varak Monastery)

View of Varakavank (Varak Monastery), near Van & St. Cross inside the monastery

(Photos taken by Vartan A. Hampikian, of New York. c. 1923)

From the expired website of John Donelian St. George Monastery, Van & Fortress of Van, from Tabriz Gate

Photos taken by Vartan A. Hampikian, of New York. c. 1923

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Varakavank (Varak Monastery) c. 1910

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To Other Armenian LiNKS

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Tours to Historical Armenia

The above photo (Varak Monastery) was sent to me by Armen Aroyan. Armen takes us diasporans on tours (or pilgrimages) of Historic Armenia (Eastern Turkey). St. Vartan Bookstore (http://www.stvartanbookstore.com/) carries his videos of the pilgrimages (tours).

Who is Armen Aroyan and what does he do for us Diasporans? From what I have read on the internet about Armen, he is well known for being a self taught tour guide and has learned where to go and who the right contacts are when touring Turkey. He has taken many groups of people to Historic Armenia and left an ever lasting impression for them. When it comes to taking small groups to historic Armenia (now Eastern Turkey), he is the man to contact. I think he started the tours in 1993.

I hope one day to have the opportunity to go on one of his pilgrimages to Vaspurakan where my grandparents were from. I have heard the stories from
my mother and aunt but never did I ever hear my grandmother speak of the Genocide she experienced. She was born about 1895 and came to America in 1920.
He arrived in America, 1913 to get settled, not knowing of the coming events to take place which unfortunately separated him from his wife for 7 long years.

I have purchased some of Armen Aroyan's videos, which make me feel somewhat connected to where it began, to enjoy the scenes shown on his videos and listen to the historical and cultural information that comes from his videos by various people on the tour.

For Tour Information to Historic Armenia, Armen Aroyan can be contacted at: aroyan@earthlink.net

To listen to Dr./Professor James Russell and others speaking of the historical past is very moving and historically educational.

Archbishop Mesrob Ashjian and James Russell accompany Armen Aroyan to Historic Armenia on many of the pilgrimages.

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click........me

My Grandparents, Sarkis & Nazlu ( Movsesian ) Bedrosian.

Have no informantion about my great grand parents Bedros Honoian/Hunoian & Shoushian Garibian (other than their names).

If anyone has heard of a Hono/Huno/Honoian/Hunoian, please contact me. My grandfather and his brother both spelled the Honoian/Hunoian these two ways on their Social Security Applications.

My grandfather came to America in 1913, under the name Haroutune Garibedian. Why is unknown, but it may have been political (my guess). None of my family members had the answer. He was born in Van, Armenia. My grandmother came to America in 1920, going through the terrible years of the genocide. She was born in Aradents, which now is Nanik, Van, Armenia/Turkey. My great grandparents names were Bedros & Shoushan (Garibian) Honoian.

If anyone knows of Aradents, Nanik or Haratensbeuy, 15 miles southeast of Van area, please contact me.

Here is what I have found out about my Grandmother's birth village of Nanik, then known as Haratensbeuy/Aradents from the well known Robert Hewsen.

The village, it seems, has had different names over the years: Aradents, Aratents, Konde Shanik, Haratents, Nanizants, Nanik, Nanikan, Nanikants, and Nanikyants. The village is also clearly indicated under its Kurdish name "Nanik" on the large-scale U.S. Air Force Aeronautical Approach Chart, titled: Van (340 B IV) dated 1955. It lies some 15 miles slightly southeast of Van, in the district of Hayots Tsor on the right (north) bank of the Hayots Tsor River, a large stream flowing into Lake Van from the east.

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Below are pictures from my Aunt Lucy (Bedrosian) Malm.

Men of Van Women of Van Picnic near Van Graduates of Van

Our Grandfather's brother Grandfather's sister names unknown

Unknown family Unknown man Unknown family

The above photos were in my relatives personal belongings and no names or dates were on the back of them unfortunately.

The only connection to relatives is a letter from 1959 from a cousin in Yerevan. Below is his name & address in Yerevan (even though he has passed away, we are hoping to connect with his relatives):

Gazar P. Asatrian, St. Sevan 106/4, Yerevan, Armenia

In 1959, Gazar & his wife have a son age 9, two girls age 9 & 6. One other known relative in Dilijan.

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Tatev, Armenia

Tatev Monastery, photo is 1989 or before "Architectural Moments in the Soviet Armenia"