Anyone know why Armenia is called Armenia?

Desideria (Moderator) says on Sep 28, 2004, 10:11:

teppar, who knows why. There's a town called Finlandia in Quindio without any connection whatsoever to the country I was born in. I guess the founders thought it sounded neat. Why is Cundinamarca called that? Does it have anything to do with Dinamarca?
Cheers,
Desi

"I have opinions of my own, strong opinions, but I don't always agree with them."-President George W. Bush

ColombianoX says on Sep 28, 2004, 10:16:

There is a reason The reason the city was named Armenia is because around the time it was founded (circa 1889) there was a massacre of many Armenians by the Turks, so the city was named in honor of them.

ColombianoX

'Defensor de la Colombianidad'

ColombianoX 'Defensor de la Colombianidad'

litost says on Sep 28, 2004, 10:25:

Interesting question...

From what I've read, it appears that the city was named Armenia because of its biblical references, as was very common in the 19th century when founding new towns in Colombia. The mountains and landscape may have something to do with it, as it seems that the area around Armenia the city is at least somewhat similar to the area of Armenia the country which has sometimes been called the Heaven on Earth by some biblical interpretations. Anyways, despite many rumors and misinterpretations, it appears it really has nothing to do with an armenian community or some kind of bond with the country, sorry!

There is an article I found in Spanish which extensively talks about the subject:

http://www.transoxiana.com.ar/0107/matiossian-armenia_colombia.html

ColombianoX says on Sep 28, 2004, 10:49:

Here's how the city got its name:

http://www.angelfire.com/my/armenia/datos_generales.html

"Armenia fué fundada en 1.889 por Jesus María Ocampo. Segun información obtenida de la Universidad del Quindio , los demás fundadores habían venido en su mayoría de Antioquía. El sitio elegido fué un lugar denominado Potreros, y fueron comprados a Antonio Herrera por doscientos pesos. A la nueva población se le dió el nombre de Armenia en homenaje a las 200.000 víctimas de las provincias armenias en Turquía"


ColombianoX

ColombianoX 'Defensor de la Colombianidad'

litost says on Sep 28, 2004, 10:54:

ColombianoX, that is the popular belief but it seems that it is completely false, the mentioned massacre didn't even occur until 1915, well after the city was founded.

Read the article I mentioned, it seems pretty clear that it was just a name given due to its presence in the Bible.

sxrxnnrr says on Sep 28, 2004, 14:15:

i lived in armenia from what i know it doesn´t have anything to do with a masacre or the bible... the name Armenia comes from an hacienda that existed in that region...

Angel_Gabriel says on Sep 28, 2004, 20:01:

Colombia There's a town in Monterrey, Mexico called "Colombia". Interesting, vallenato music in Monterrey is quite famous; los diablillos have been there a few times so I was told.

teppar says on Sep 28, 2004, 23:54:

interesting.... thanks everyone for your input. it seems there isn't a definitive answer as to if there is a link to my country armenia with the city armenia. i find it fascinating that the two places exist with the same name. as i said before my culture is very important to me, and it excites me to think there may be some link and my partner's country.

litost, just to give you a history update on my country armenia, yes the massive genocide by the turks on the armenians was in 1915, but there were many massacres before that which were of a smaller scale during the late 1800's. despite the fact that the article you've indicated says differently

cheers