The city of Bourj Hammoud is located on Lebanon’s Mediterranean coast, 2 km east of central Beirut. Bourj Hammoud has been an independent municipality since 1952 and is a member of the Metn-North group of municipalities.
The city covers an area of 2 square km, and has a population of almost 150,000 habitants: Bourj Hammoud is one of the most densely-populated cities in the Middle East. The town emerged in the 1930s, as a result of the arrival of a large Armenian community in the plain adjoining the right bank of the Beirut river, alongside the northern road.
The town of Bourj Hammoud sits east of Beirut by the seaside, bordered by Amarat Chalhoub and Sin al-Fil, and the Beirut neighborhoods of Nahr and Achrafieh. When you cross the Beirut River and enter the municipality of Bourj Hammoud, it seems like another city entirely. Lebanon is the sixth largest Armenian population outside Armenia worldwide.
The neighborhoods in the municipality are Marash, Haret Sader, Nor Adana, Mar Doumith, Nor Sis, Nabaa and Ghilane, Arax street and Armenia street. Marash, Nor Sis and Nor Adana are towns in Cilicia in Armenia.
Bourj Hammoud today remains densely populated and has a mixed residential, commercial and industrial aspect. Its goldsmith industry is widely known, but local enterprises also produce shoes, bags, and clothes. Not surprisingly, it’s the place to visit if you want to pick up imported goods from the independent state of Armenia.
An essential new hub emerged around Armenia Street and in Arax Street where until present times, a large number of jewelers and goldsmiths are based. There are around 150 jewelry stores and goldsmiths; many concentrated around the square in front of the Municipality in Armenia Street. These businesses generate a significant part of their turn over by exporting to the Gulf States, Japan, Europe and the US.
Bourj Hammoud is colorful and vibrant and a shopping magnet to boot A center for crafts and ateliers, it is renowned for its artisanship and jewelry, leather, garments, shoes and mechanical handiworks… It is also the place par excellence for savoring Armenian cuisine. Everything needed is available in Bourj Hammoud for visitors either residents or tourists. Therefore, if you are visiting Lebanon, or you are a Lebanese resident, visiting Bourj Hammoud is a must that has to be prioritized. Visit Bourj Hammoud and enjoy your stay in it! Surely, you will be glad and satisfied of your visit.
People of Armenian descent living in Lebanon strive to preserve their culture, working in traditional sectors and passing down their heritage to the younger generations. Usually, the fathers teach their children how to work, and they take over their business later on. Dons decide to add more specialties to their fathers’ activities by visiting exhibitions in foreign countries and learning more techniques.
Nowadays, Bourj Hammoud is flourished with leather and fabrics, craftsmen and sellers. After 100 years of exile in Lebanon today, the second generation of Armenian genocide are trying to find ways to save their heritage, mainly through the promotion of traditional crafts. In general, all crafts and businesses in Bourj Hammoud are family business, especially the shoemaking.
