Armenians in Lebanon

==History==
[[Image:Armenian Catholic Patriarchate, Bzoummar, Lebanon (2).JPG|thumb|upright=1.1|Headquarters of the Armenian Catholic Patriarchate in [[Bzoummar]]]]
Armenians first established contact with Lebanon when [[Tigranes the Great]] conquered [[Phoenicia]] from the [[Seleucids]] and made it part of his short-lived Armenian Empire. When the [[Roman Empire]] established its rule over both Armenia and ancient Lebanon, some Roman troops of Armenian origin went there in order to accomplish their duties as Romans. After Armenia converted to Christianity in 301, Armenian pilgrims established contact with Lebanon and its people on their way to [[Jerusalem]]; some of whom would settle there.<ref>The Armenians of Lebanon, by S. Varjabedian, Beirut, 1951, p. 5-8</ref>

The Catholic Armenians who fled to Lebanon in the declining years of the 17th century may be credited with establishing the first enduring Armenian community in the land.<ref name="ejournals.bc.edu">[https://ejournals.bc.edu/index.php/levantine/article/download/5363/4822/0 Lebanese Armenians; A Distingtive Community in the Armenian Diaspora and in Lebanese Society, by Scott Abramson, p. 213]</ref> The Maronites further acted on the Armenians' behalf in 1742, when they interceded with the [[Holy See|Vatican]] to win Papal recognition for the patriarch of the Armenian Catholics. In 1749, the Armenian Catholic Church built a monastery in [[Bzoummar]], where the image of [[Our Lady of Bzommar]] is venerated. The monastery is now acknowledged as the oldest extant Armenian monastery in Lebanon. Alongside it was built the patriarchal see for the entire Armenian Catholic Church.<ref name="ejournals.bc.edu"/>

In 1890's the [[Hamidian massacres]] had produced a trickle of Armenian refugees into Lebanon.