In the second half of the 17th century Armenian merchants arriving from Moldavia first settled in Csík and Gyergyó. Their descendants now speak Hungarian, but Armenian-rite Catholic parishes still exist in Gyergyószentmiklós and Csíkszépvíz.
- Settlement
- In several waves between 1668 and 1672 – by tradition in 1672, under Prince Mihály Apafi
- Centres
- Csíkszépvíz, Gyergyószentmiklós, Erzsébetváros, Szamosújvár
- Church organisation
- Ordinariate for Armenian Catholics of Romania, since 1930, based in Szamosújvár (Gherla)
- Rite
- Armenian rite, in union with Rome since 1689
Merchants among the mountains
Armenians arrived in Transylvania in several waves in the second half of the 17th century. They first settled in the Csík Basin, received the right to trade and settle freely in 1680, and by the early 18th century had four centres: Csíkszépvíz, Gyergyószentmiklós, Ebesfalva – later Erzsébetváros – and Szamosújvár.
In 1689 their church entered into union with Rome: since then they have been Catholics while keeping their Armenian rite. In the 18th and 19th centuries they gradually integrated into Hungarian society in language and customs. Today their numbers are small: in 2013 the ordinariate had 666 faithful.
What to see
- In Gyergyószentmiklós, the Baroque Armenian church surrounded by a loopholed stone wall, built between 1730 and 1733.
- The church’s most valuable painting: St Gregory the Illuminator baptising King Tiridates III – painted in 1752 at the Mekhitarist monastery in Venice.
- Csíkszépvíz, one of the early Armenian centres, also has an Armenian Catholic church; the St Ladislaus memorial on Pogány-havas lies above the village.
Feast
- 8 SeptemberNativity of Our Lady: the feast of the Armenian church in Gyergyószentmiklós, with an Armenian-rite liturgy, on the day or the nearest Sunday
