"Armenians in Serbia in the 13th-20th Centuries" - Babken SIMONYAN

Babken Simonyan's article is devoted to the history of the Armenian colony in Serbia over seven centuries — from the medieval era to the twentieth century — and represents one of the first attempts at a systematic treatment of the little-studied topic of Armenian-Serbian relations, based on architectural monuments, epigraphy, written sources, and field materials collected by the author over decades of research.

Introduction and Methodology

The author notes that the history of the Armenian colony in Serbia has not yet received a comprehensive scholarly description: there exist only scattered publications devoted to individual periods. Simonyan draws upon:
• epigraphic monuments (inscriptions on monastery walls and tombstones);
• testimonies of Armenian and Serbian chroniclers (in particular, Grigor Daranaghtsi);
• works of Serbian and Armenian scholars (S. Der Nersessian, Đ. Bošković, O. Khalpakhchyan);
• oral traditions and census data.

The Vitovnica Monastery and Armenian Master Builders

A key point of the article is the analysis of the bilingual Armenian-Serbian inscription in the Vitovnica Monastery (1218), attesting to the construction of the church by the ktetor Lato. The author traces the scholarly debate concerning the dating and authorship of the monument, emphasizing that the stylistics of the inscription and the architectural features of the church point to the participation of Armenian master builders. Drawing on the conclusions of O. Khalpakhchyan and Đ. Bošković, Simonyan argues that Vitovnica became the prototype for the Morava architectural school, which influenced such monuments as Ravanica, Manasija, and Gornjak.

The Battle of Kosovo and the Ermenčić Monastery

A separate section is devoted to the Ermenčić Monastery, founded, according to tradition, by Armenian soldiers of the Ottoman army after the Battle of Kosovo in 1389, in gratitude for having been spared participation in the subjugation of the Serbs. The author reconstructs the dramatic history of the monastery's repeated destructions and restorations by Turks and Serbian insurgents, and cites toponymic and anthroponymic evidence (the names "Ermenka," "Yermenka") as proof of the joint habitation of Armenians and Serbs.

Belgrade and the Armenian Diaspora

The final part of the article examines the formation of the Armenian colony in Belgrade beginning in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, connected with migrations from Nakhichevan, Yerevan, Erzurum, and Crimea. The author provides genealogical information on the Bagratuni-Chelebi lineage, and points to surviving tombstone monuments in the Belgrade Fortress as material confirmation of the Armenian presence in the city.

Conclusion

Simonyan concludes that the Armenian colony in Serbia, despite its small numbers, left a notable mark on the country's cultural and architectural heritage, and that the mutual interpenetration of Armenian and Serbian traditions — from church architecture to everyday customs — testifies to deep, centuries-old ties between the two peoples, which require further comprehensive scholarly study.