La mer Noire vue par les yeux d’un pèlerin arménien : Siméon de Pologne et son voyage entre Lviv et Constantinople
Black Sea in the eyes of an Armenian pilgrim: Simeon of Poland and his journey between Lviv/Lvov and Constantinople

Author(s): Petra Košťálová
Subject(s): History, Anthropology, Social Sciences, Language and Literature Studies, Customs / Folklore, Studies of Literature, Modern Age, Other Language Literature, Cultural Anthropology / Ethnology, Culture and social structure , 17th Century
Published by: Сдружение „Транспонтика“
Keywords: Poland-Lithuania; Balkans; travelogue; travel accounts; Armenian diaspora; Lvov/Lwów/Lviv; Constantinople
Summary/Abstract: The article introduces to parts and aspects of Simeon of Poland’s major work, Ւղեգրություն; տարեգրություն եւ յիշատակարանք [‘Travel account; chronicles and colophons’] (1619-1635). Simeon of Poland (or Lekhatsi, ca. 1584-after 1639) is one of the most significant figures of Armenian literature of the 16th and 17th centuries. He came from the Armenian Polish Diaspora (known as Lekhahayer) that settled on the territory of Poland-Lithuania since the Middle Ages (according to the tradition, the Lekhahayer diaspora was the result of a great wave of migration from kingdom of Ani during the 11th century); his parents were from Caffa, Crimea. The history of the well organised Armenian communities, which numbered several tens of thousands of people in what is today Poland, Moldova, Romania, Bulgaria, Ukraine and Hungary, dates back mostly to the era after the Ottoman conquest of Crimea (1475). The central role there was played by Armenian traders and merchants (khojas, aghas) whose monopoly on so-called luxury oriental products (embroidered silk fabrics, weapons, jewelry, spices etc.) in a multicultural environment was undeniable. Armenians enjoyed special privileges, granted by Polish kings (Statuta), such as tax exemptions and autonomy (councils of elders, the mayor, the own court governed by code of Mkhitar Gosh etc.). The most famous Armenian centres of that time were in Lvov (Lwów, Lviv), Kamieniets Podolski, and Ottoman Plovdiv (Philibe, Philipopolis). Simeon’s work – his 'Travel accounts, chronicles and colophons' –, or simply 'Travel account' (“Ułegrut‛yun” in Armenian), represents a glimpse into the everyday life of the period and provides information on the economic, political and demographic situation in Poland-Lithuania and the Ottoman Empire (its Balkan, Anatolian, Egyptian and Syro-Palestinian domains). The author, as a Christian belonging to the Armenian Apostolic Church who came from Lvov, was particularly interested in living conditions concerning Armenians and other Christians settled in the cities under the control of the Ottomans and their specific situation in relation to the Armenians in Poland. Simeon spent almost ten years traveling through the Ottoman Empire (1608-1618), led by the major idea of a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, Rome and the monastery of St. John the Baptist (Surb Karapet) near the eastern Anatolian city of Mush. His itinerary was characteristic for travellers from Central Europe (Lvov, Chernivtsi, Suceava, Galati, Aydos mountain pass, through part of via Egnatia to Constatinople; from there continuing to Dalmatian coast and on return way navigating along the Greek coasts and across the Aegean, then travelling to Egypt, Jerusalem and finally returning through inland Anatolia and along/across the Black Sea to home). Simeon’s travel diary (written in 17th century Armenian language) contains not only the description of the journey, but also (sometimes very detailed) information about the history, geography and ethnography of visited places, as well as his personal and subjective impressions and feelings. He saw the world exclusively through the prism of his own religious community (this is his recurring topos), at the same time describing the relations between Armenians and their neighbours. Thus Simeon draws a kind of microcosm of towns, villages, caravan routes and monasteries as meeting places between Armenians, Turks, Tatars, Poles, Jews, Greeks, Arabs, Assyrians, Georgians, Kurds, Albanians, Venetians and others. The space traversed by Simeon is depicted as a unified cultural entity interconnected and even intertwined by networks of Armenian merchant communities. Within their frame, our author finds himself both inside and outside. He remains an eternal pilgrim, mahtes, and, at the same time, a humble servant of Armenian Apostolic Church. Stereotyped images based on confessional identity seem to predominate in Simeon’s text. He regarded his journey as a passage from one Armenian community to another, which formed specific uninterrupted chain around the south-western shore of the Black Sea and beyond. His accounts reflect the mobility of urban Armenian Diaspora, constantly referring to the topos of Ani as well as to the narrative of exile as the main markers of regional ethno-religious identity (Armenians from Plovdiv, Armenians from Argeş, Armenians from Rodosto, etc.). Simeon’s text shows us the Eastern Balkan countries perceived as an area interconnected by identical economic interests, in which intermediaries (bilingual merchants) could cross borders without great problems. The shore of the Black Sea could be seen here as a multi-faceted phenomenon – a multi-ethnic and multi-confessional space, where the Armenian pilgrim constantly crosses the border within and beyond his own communities.

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