The Armenian presence in Palestine dates back to the fourth century CE, when Armenian pilgrims began arriving in Jerusalem after the uncov- ering of the holy places of Christi- anity. As of the seventh century, the Armenian Orthodox Church had its own bishop in Jerusalem. The Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem in its present form came into being in the first decade of the fourteenth century, when the Brotherhood of Sts. James was established in the Holy City. The Armenian Church occupies an important position with its joint guardianship – shared with the far larger and more powerful Greek Orthodox and Latin (Roman Catholic) churches – of Christianity’s holiest sites of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher and the Church of the Nativity, among others.
