venice and its minorities 459
in which they then dwelled at san Zulian (san Giuliano), in the calle dei
Lanterne, eventually called the calle dei armini, near san Marco, and
that any necessary maintenance be undertaken at his expense.27 By 1341,
the armenian house (domus Arminorum) existed as a organized structure
while the armenians possessed a cemetery on the island of san Giorgio
that was later covered up when the church still standing there was con-
structed, and the presence of a figure called the archiepiscopus Armeno-
rum (archbishop of the armenians) seems to suggest the existence of an
ecclesiastical hierarchy. then in 1348, they acquired a church and con-
vent of san Giovanni Battista dei Frati armeni in castello.28 By 1434, the
armenians possessed a small church in the calle degli armeni, in which
they worshipped according to the armenian christian rite. in 1497 it was
restored, and an ospizio was constructed next to it. an important result
of the armenian settlement in Venice was the development of armenian
printing in the city, and the first book in armenian was published in Ven-
ice in 1512.
the armenians became especially significant in Venetian trade with
the east in the 17th and 18th centuries. When in 1715 the armenian monk
Mechitar (1676–1749), who favored a rapprochement between the arme-
nian church and roman catholicism, sought with some of his followers
refuge in Venice from the turks who were about to capture Venetian
Modon where they then resided, he was given the island of san Lazzaro
on which he established a monastery that became a center for armenian
studies and led to a revival of armenian consciousness.
iVimmigrants from the Germanic lands, called tedeschi, constituted a very
significant minority group in Venice. a discussion of their status raises
the issue of the establishment of compulsory residential quarters for at
least some members of a minority group in Venice as well as that of the
treatment of individuals who, from the catholic perspective, represented
a heresy that was far more serious than that potentially posed by the
27 For a discussion of this will, see G. ortalli, “tra Venezia e l’armenia: alle radici di un
lungo rapporto,” in B. L. Zekiyan and a. Ferrari, eds., Gli Armeni in Venezia: Dagli Sceriman
a Mechitar (Venice, 2004), p. 24, and the text on pp. 39–40.
28 see B. L. Zekiyan, “Gli armeni a Venezia e nel Veneto e san Lazaro degli armeni,” in
B. L. Zekiyan, ed., Gli Armeni in Italia (rome, 1990), p. 40.