To expose students to tangible traces of the historical past, the Department of Armenian Studies at Pázmány Péter Catholic University in Budapest organizes more than one educational expedition each year alongside its academic program.
Although the number of students has increased in the past five years, the Department has continued organizing these expeditions, creating rich, novel and engaging experiences for students and faculty. During these trips, lecturers and students present a dozen reports and lectures, offering opportunities to familiarize themselves with modern Armenian Studies while emphasizing the historical significance of the visited sites. Through these efforts, the Department of Armenian Studies connects the past to the present and lays the foundation for its preservation in the future.
At the beginning of the 2024 Academic Year, from October 21 to 25, the Department organized a trip to southeastern Poland under the guidance of its Polish lecturer, Dr. Konrad Siekierski, an expert in religion, anthropology, and Armenian Studies. The group was honored to have Father Mashdots Zahterian of the Armenian Catholic Church in Budapest, accompany them on this journey.
Armenians settled in this region during the late medieval and early modern periods, migrating from Crimea through Moldova, Transylvania, and Poland. They primarily engaged in trade, lived in large cities, and established churches, schools, and maintained manuscript traditions. However, this vast and vibrant Armenian community, under the rule of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the 16th–18th centuries, faced significant challenges due to wars that disrupted their peaceful existence.
The journey began in Kraków, the historical capital of the Polish Empire and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Until recently, Kraków hosted an Armenian Studies research center that published the academic journal Polish-Armenians (Լեհահայեր). Despite enduring numerous disasters, the city’s architecture has survived, retaining its grandeur. The group visited Wawel Royal Castle and the Church of the Virgin Mary, located within its walls, where tombs of prominent historical and royal figures can be found.
About an hour and a half from Kraków, the group visited Auschwitz-Birkenau, the infamous concentration and extermination camps. Fascism claimed millions of lives in these and other camps—not only Jews but also Roma, Poles, and other minorities, including homosexuals and individuals with disabilities. World War II was the most brutal conflict in human history, leaving behind devastating consequences. Before arriving at Auschwitz, Dr. Anatolii Tokmantcev, a faculty in the Department of Armenian Studies and expert in religion and nationalism, provided detailed background information. At the end of the visit, the guide asked, “What nationality is your group?” When informed that most participants were Armenians, the guide responded, “Your nation endured similar suffering at the beginning of the 20th century, so you must feel this pain even more deeply.” We replayed this statement in our minds, with some of us discouraged by the thought and realisation that the same history persists to this day.
On the way to their next destination, Rzeszów, the group stopped at Kalwaria Zebrzydowska, another UNESCO World Heritage Site. This small town and pilgrimage site, built in the 18th century and frequently visited by Pope John Paul II, featured forested hills that reminded the students from Artsakh of their homeland.
From Kalwaria Zebrzydowska, the group traveled to Rzeszów, the largest city in the region, which has experienced numerous invasions and significant losses throughout its history. These events deeply affected the local Armenian community, resulting in multiple relocations and periods of hardship.
In Rzeszów, we were joined by a guide who provided insights into the current state of the Armenian community. In the evening, an elderly Armenian woman named Mari visited the hotel. Mari, considered the last Armenian with ancestral roots in historic Rzeszów, shared her memories and family stories, and explained how her family documents have been passed down and preserved despite the upheavals of war and migration. Her passion for Armenian heritage inspired the group, and her detailed accounts were summarized by Dr. Konrad Siekierski for the attendees.
After Rzeszów, the group visited the Zwierzyniec Brewery, operating since 1806. The visit provided a blend of education and enjoyment as the group learned about the brewery’s history while exploring the surrounding natural beauty.
The city of Rzeszów and its surrounding areas are also rich in oil fields. Here, the group visited Ignacy Łukasiewicz's (Ghukasian) factory in Bóbrka. On this piece of land surrounded by a beautiful green forest, the world’s first oil well has been operating since 1854. Ignacy Łukasiewicz (Ghukasian) (1822–1882) spent his most productive years working here. His name is well known to the Polish people as the founder of the oil industry, who, in 1853, invented the kerosene lamp. Ignacy Łukasiewicz’s father was Armenian. Visiting his workplace, which today has been turned into a museum, and hearing about his achievements filled the group with pride. Dr. Karen Jallatyan, a modern Diaspora studies specialist, even managed to obtain a small bottle of oil as a souvenir from one of the historical wells with permission from the museum worker.
The next stop was Zamość, a walled city with Renaissance architecture reminiscent of Murano. Five years after its founding, in 1585, Armenian merchants received permission to settle and work there. On the main square of the city was a street called Armenian Street, where the houses of Armenians who once lived and thrived can still be seen.
At the end of the street was their church, which was later demolished. In Zamość, the oldest Armenian manuscript was copied. Today, in memory of the Armenians and their legacy, a khachkar (cross-stone) has been erected,
and their residential buildings have been turned into state museums where the inner walls still preserve Armenian decorative carvings.
Zamość was also the birthplace of Simeon Lehatsi (of Poland) (1584–1639), known for his Travelogue, a work that resulted from his extensive travels in Europe, the Middle East, the Ottoman Empire, historical Armenia, and Jerusalem. This detailed account provides multilayered information about Polish-Armenians, Poland, and the entire region. After being lost for centuries, Lehatsi’s manuscript was rediscovered by Mekhitarist Father Nerses Akinian, who copied and published it in Vienna in 1936 before the manuscript was lost again. Doctoral student Lilit Mnatsakanyan presented Lehatsi’s work during the visit.
Another significant travelogue related to Poland came from the pen of another Armenian author. This was the Venice-based Mekhitarist Father Minas Bzhshkian's (1777–1851) Journey to Poland and Other Places Inhabited by Descendants of Armenians from Ani (1830), published in San Lazzaro. Born in Trabzon, Father Bzhshkian, in the words of Marc Nichanian, was "one of the first laborers of Western Armenian." He brought modern philology to the Armenian people, engaging in the construction of a new interpretive framework for national memory. Dr. Bálint Kovács, the head of the Department, co-edited a German translation of Bzhshkian's Journey to Poland with Grigor Grigoryan in 2019. Thus, students of the Armenian Studies Department at Pázmány Péter University in Budapest are well acquainted with the two most significant Armenian-language travelogues with strong links to Poland.
Returning to history, the first significant migration of Armenians to Poland occurred after the fall of the Cilician Kingdom in the 14th century. King Casimir III the Great issued a special decree allowing Armenians to settle under his authority. By making Poland their home, Armenians significantly contributed to the country’s political, social, and industrial spheres. However, their most profound impact was cultural, as they brought with them the rich heritage of their historical homeland—art, craftsmanship, and trade.
For the historic Polish-Armenian community, the diocese’s agreement with the Vatican to adopt Catholicism marked a turning point. While Armenians retained much of the Armenian Apostolic Church’s liturgical traditions, this alignment with Catholicism had significant consequences, possibly contributing to the assimilation and gradual disappearance of the distinct Armenian identity in Poland.
Poland also became a vital center for Armenian literature, which continued to flourish outside the historical territories of Armenia. Manuscript writing reached its zenith here, becoming an integral part of Poland’s literary heritage. Some of the earliest Armenian-Latin and Latin-Armenian dictionaries were created in Poland. A diverse literary heritage emerged, including works written in Armenian-script Polish, Armenian-script Kipchak, as well as Latin-script Armenian and Latin-script Polish.
The Armenian manuscripts created, copied, and preserved in the Armenian-populated centers of the Polish-Lithuanian Kingdom are now housed in various libraries and collections around the world, including the Mesrop Mashtots Institute of Ancient Manuscripts in Yerevan. In addition to manuscripts, a wealth of literature was produced, encompassing philosophy, theology, travelogues, and translations between Armenian, Latin, and Polish.
In the 20th century, during World War II, Poland lost several of its historical territories, including the city of Lviv, which had served as the Armenian episcopal seat and was both the spiritual and secular center of the community. Notable among Lviv’s heritage is the Church of the Assumption of the Holy Mother of God, whose construction began in 1363 with the support of Armenian merchants. Our journey felt incomplete without a visit to Lviv, which remains the most significant center in Polish-Armenian history. Sadly, the current wartime situation rendered such a visit impossible.
The trip’s final historic site was the wooden Gothic Church of the Assumption of the Holy Virgin Mary in Haczów, built in the 14th century. The journey concluded with the group returning to Budapest, carrying the memories and rich history of the places they had explored.
This report is a modest continuation of a Polish travelogue. As centuries pass and cultures evolve, expeditions like this serve to preserve and share the layered history of Polish-Armenians. Who knows, perhaps one day we will see a more established Armenian Studies department in Poland, where students and specialists from Poland, Armenia and from around the world can delve deeper into the layered and still only partially unearthed experiences of the Polish-Armenians.
Recommended readings
Սիմէնոն Լեհացի, «Ուղեգրութիւն։ Տարեգրութիւն եւ յիշատակարանք,» ուսումնասիրեց եւ հրատարակեց Հ. Ներսէր Վ. Ակինեան, Վիեննա, Մխիթարեան Տպարան, 1936։
Simeon of Poland, The Travel Accounts of Simēon of Poland, annotated translation and introduction by George Bournoutian. Costa Mesa, CA: Mazda Publishers, 2007.
Մինաս Բժշկեան, «Ճանապարհորդութիւն ի Լեհաստան եւ յայլ կողմանս բնակեալս ի հայկազանց սերելոց ի նախնեաց Անի քաղաքին», Ի Վանս Սրբոյ Ղազարու, 1830։
Der Reisebericht des Minas Bžškeancʻ über die Armenier im östlichen Europa (1830), übersetzt und kommentiert von Bálint Kovács und Grigor Grigoryan, Armenier im östlichen Europa - Armenians in Eastern Europe - Band 005, Böhlau Verlag GmbH & Cie, Köln, 2019.
Փիրուզ Մնացականյան, «Լեհահայեր. Ձեռագրության ժառանգություն Ormianie Polscy. Spuścizna Rękopiśmienna,» Հրատարակվել է Հայաստանի Հանրապետությունում Լեհաստանի Հանրապետության դեսպանատան ֆինանսական աջակցությամբ, Երեւան, 2017.
Written by:
Sossi Sousani /Armenian Language Instructor/ and Karen Jallatyan /Lecturer/
