In May 2010, Edward and Mary Ann Arakelian Kazanjian of Belmont, MA, to the interior of Turkey

Present
An Illustrated Talk by
Edward & Mary Ann Kazanjian
Journey To Historic Armenia 2010:
There Really Is Something There
In May 2010, Edward and Mary Ann Arakelian Kazanjian of Belmont, MA, returned for the second time to the interior of Turkey (Historic Armenia) with tour guide Armen Aroyan of California. A 2,000-mile journey was made through more than 50 cities and villages in Historic Armenia from the Black Sea to the
Mediterranean (Cilicia).

Among their most memorable experiences were finding the places in Samson that Mary Ann's father had described in his oral history and visiting the birthplace of Ed's mother and her parents in Tarsus and Lampron. Two additional highlights of the journey were the climb to the Monastery of Abarank near Ucpinar where they found the two 16-foot igh khatchkars and a visit to Hromgla, the fortress
where Catholicos Nerses Shnorhali (Nerses the Graceful) wrote many of his liturgical pieces. The pilgrimage included Amasya, Marsovan, Samson, Ordu,
Shabin Karahisar, Erzincan, Ucpinar, Pertek,Kharpert, Kuyulu, Yeghike, Malatya, Marash, Aintab, Berejik, Jibin, Hromgla, Kilis, Antioch, Musa Dagh,
Belen, Iskenderum, Tarsus, Lampron, and Adana.

The Kazanjians will present over 700 annotated slides with embedded videos, musical excerpts, and narration of their return trip to Historic Armenian lands
in modern-day Turkey.

Edward Kazanjian retired after a 41-year career as: a General Dynamics, facilities engineer; an administrator in the Framingham, Brookline, and
Billerica public schools; 16 years as Executive Director and Senior Consultant for a not-for-profit Educational Cooperative; and most recently as Assistant Superintendent of Schools in Westwood, MA. He continues to do consulting and expert witness work part time. Mary Ann Arakelian Kazanjian is a former
elementary school teacher in Woburn, MA, and has been a church organist for 46 years first at St. James and currently at St. Stephen's Armenian Churches in
Watertown.

The above photo shows the 16-ft.-high khatchkars at Abarank Monastery.

The Armenian Library and Museum of America
and
The National Association for
Armenian Studies and Research

Naasr