page_title: San Lazzaro degli Armeni
section_title: Establishment
hierarchical_section_title: San Lazzaro degli Armeni / History / Armenian period / Establishment
caption_attribution_description: English: en:San Lazzaro degli Armeni
context_page_description: San Lazzaro degli Armeni is a small island in the Venetian Lagoon which has been home to the monastery of the Mekhitarists, an Armenian Catholic congregation, since 1717. It is the primary center of the Mekhitarists, while the Mekhitarist Monastery of Vienna is their primary abbey.
  The islet lies 2 km to the southeast of Venice proper and west of the Lido and covers an area of 3 hectares. Settled in the 9th century, it was a leper colony during the Middle Ages, but fell into disuse by the early 18th century. In 1717 San Lazzaro was ceded by the Republic of Venice to Mkhitar Sebastatsi, an Armenian Catholic monk, who established a monastery with his followers. It has since been the headquarters of the Mekhitarists and, as such, one of the world's prominent centers of Armenian culture and Armenian studies. Numerous important publications, such as the first complete dictionary of the Armenian language and the first modern history of Armenia, were made in the island by the monks which made it an early major center of Armenian printing.
  San Lazzaro has been enlarged nearly four times from its original size through land reclamation.
context_section_description: In April 1715, a group of twelve Armenian Catholic monks led by Mkhitar Sebastatsi (English: Mekhitar of Sebaste, Italian: Mechitar) arrived in Venice from Morea, today known as the Peloponnese peninsula, following its invasion by the Ottoman Empire. The monks were members of a Catholic order founded by Mkhitar in 1701, in Constantinople, the capital of the Ottoman Empire. The order moved to Modone (Methoni), on the southern shore of the Peloponnese, in 1703, after repressions by the Ottoman government and the Armenian Apostolic Church. In 1712 the order received recognition by Pope Clement XI. Victor Langlois wrote that a Venetian admiral and the Venetian governor of Morea, "sympathizing deeply with the fearful distress of the unfortunate community, yielded to their earnest entreaties for permission to embark on a government vessel which was about to leave for Venice."
  On September 8, 1717, on the Feast of the Nativity of Mary,  the Venetian Senate ceded San Lazzaro to Mkhitar and his companions, who agreed not to rename the island. He was reminded of the monastery on the island of Lake Sevan, where he had sought education earlier in his life. Upon acquisition, the monks began works of restoration of existing buildings on the island. The entire community then relocated to the island in April 1718 when the buildings on San Lazzaro became habitable. Mkhitar himself designed the plan of the monastery, which was completed by 1840. The monastery originally included 16 cells for monks, which were adjusted from the old hospital. The church's restoration lasted from May to November 1722. Mkhitar died in 1749. The bell tower was completed a year later, in 1750.
caption: San Lazzaro circa 1877[27]
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