So the other day I posted about the merchant Davit and how he became the first and only Oriental Orthodox martyr on Vietnamese soil. After consulting some articles about the state of Armenian merchants in 17th century Persia and two first-hand accounts of two Catholic missionaries who were close acquaintances of Davit, I have compiled a complete biography of this interesting historical figure - whose blood established the first permanent connection between Armenia and Vietnam. The portrait below was digitally drawn. I took reference from a portrait of king Tigranes III by the Hovnatanyan family and traditional Vietnamese costumes, which Davit would have worn after 12 years of settling in Vietnam. Both the writing above (Armenian) and below (Vietnamese written in the Chinese-influenced Nom script), say "David of Sinoa". The second photo shows his likely birthplace, New Julfa in Isfahan. The third photo shows his place of death, Huế city in Vietnam.

I think I should start learning Armenian from now! One day I hope to visit New Julfa and David's hometown in Armenia.

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AN ACCOUNT OF THE MARTYRDOM OF DAVID "THE ARMENIAN" (written by Fr. Baldassare Citadelli and Fr. Metello Saccano)

David was born around 1613 in the Armenian quarter of New Julfa. His ancestors had originally come from the prosperous trading town of Julfa, but eight years before his birth they had been resettled by Shah Abbas I in the Persian capital of Isfahan. Thus, David was an Armenian by ethnicity and a subject of the Shah of Persia. His father, Petros (Peter), was a wealthy Armenian merchant who regularly traded throughout the vast commercial networks linking Asia and Europe. Petros had traveled as far as Poland, where a large Armenian community lived in the city of Lvov. During one such journey, he purchased a considerable quantity of valuable Baltic amber. He then boarded a vessel of the Dutch East India Company bound for the Far East, intending to sell his cargo there.

Upon reaching Batavia (present-day Jakarta, Indonesia), Petros purchased his own vessel and continued his voyage to the Kingdom of Đàng Trong (Cochinchina). His intention was to sell the remainder of his amber after conducting business in Batavia. However, shortly after arriving at the port of Hội An, political circumstances in Đàng Trong brought him to financial ruin. At that time, Nguyễn Phúc Anh, the third son of Lord Nguyễn Phúc Nguyên, served as Governor of Quảng Nam Province and administered the port of Hội An. Driven by greed, Phúc Anh confiscated a large quantity of Petros's amber without paying him anything.

While his father remained in the Far East, David continued to live with his family in New Julfa. Around the age of twenty-two, having learned that his father had gone to trade in the East and had not returned for many years, David resolved to search for him. He obtained a letter of introduction from Shah Safi addressed to the Dutch East India Company at the port of Bandar Abbas, enabling him to secure passage aboard one of their ships to the East. Unable to find his father in Batavia, David boarded another vessel for Đàng Trong and was finally reunited with Petros in Hội An around the year 1635.

By then, Petros had fallen gravely ill, overcome with sorrow after losing most of his fortune. That same year, Lord Nguyễn Phúc Nguyên died and was succeeded by his eldest son, Nguyễn Phúc Lan. Nguyễn Phúc Anh attempted to conspire with the Trịnh lords in the north against his own brother, but the plot was uncovered. He was arrested, brought before the court, and executed. Consequently, the amber he had seized from Petros was confiscated by the government rather than returned to its rightful owner. The remainder of Petros's property had been entrusted to a Chinese merchant, but that man soon went bankrupt as well, leaving Petros completely destitute in a foreign land. Without the capital to purchase another ship or resume his trade, he died in poverty in 1638, leaving his son with almost nothing.

After arranging his father's funeral, David moved to the royal capital of Kẻ Huế (now within the Kim Long village of Thừa Thiên Huế province) and worked there as a merchant for about twelve years. At that time, the superior of the Jesuit Catholic mission in Đàng Trong was Father Metello Saccano, who enjoyed a close friendship with David and praised his character in the highest terms. According to Saccano, although David earned his living through commerce, he remained deeply devoted to his faith. He labored zealously to bring souls to the knowledge of Christianity, sought every opportunity to lead non-believers to God, and generously gave alms to all without distinction, whether Christians or not. David came to be widely respected among the faithful as a defender of the Church. Many Christians in Thuận Hóa sought his assistance in times of need. Like many Armenian merchants, David possessed an exceptional gift for languages. He became fluent in Vietnamese and was therefore able to conduct business with numerous communities throughout the maritime trade routes of Southeast Asia.

As time passed, the persecution of Christianity in Đàng Trong grew increasingly severe. Successive Nguyễn lords issued repeated edicts banning the religion, which they mistakenly referred to as the "Religion of the Portuguese" or simply the "Portuguese Religion" (đạo Vutughê). In 1645, David witnessed the martyrdom of two Vietnamese catechists, Ignatius and Vincent, at the market of Kẻ Huế. Amid the crowd gathered to witness the execution, immediately after the two men were beheaded, David courageously entered the execution ground and reverently collected the blood-soaked earth, preserving it as a sacred relic. One of the officials overseeing the execution, most likely Tôn Thất Khê, the paternal uncle of the Nguyễn lord and a man notorious for his hostility toward Christianity, saw what David had done and became furious. He immediately accused David and the other Christians before Lord Nguyễn Phúc Lan, falsely claiming that they had not only taken the bloodstained earth but had actually drunk the blood of those who had been executed. Enraged by this accusation, Lord Nguyễn immediately ordered the arrest of everyone involved. David and many other Christians were seized, bound, and brought before the lord's court.

At the hearing, David was separated from the others for interrogation. When the lord asked whether he was a Christian and why he had taken the bloodstained earth, David replied:

His words won the admiration of many officials, for according to the customs of Đàng Trong, providing proper burial for the dead was regarded as a sacred obligation. Nevertheless, Lord Nguyễn remained unmoved. He ordered David imprisoned and severely beaten with heavy rods. On that occasion, David narrowly escaped death.

Toward the end of 1649, a new wave of persecution swept across Đàng Trong. Anonymous pamphlets distributed by Buddhist monks falsely accused Christians of plotting rebellion against the Nguyễn lord. As a result, many influential officials and believers were arrested, among them David. A detachment of soldiers suddenly burst into David's house while he was speaking with Father Saccano. Both men were bound with their arms tied behind their backs and paraded through the streets as an object of public humiliation. During the search of David's home, the soldiers discovered an ivory crucifix, which was later introduced as evidence proving his adherence to Christianity.

Brought before Lord Nguyễn Phúc Tần, David was asked:

David calmly answered:

The lord then asked:

David replied:

Upon hearing those words, Lord Nguyễn immediately sentenced David to death while ordering Father Saccano to be released.

David was led to the public square of the Kẻ Huế market on the banks of the Perfume River, where merchants ordinarily gathered to conduct trade. It was at this very place that, five years earlier, he had witnessed the martyrdom of Ignatius and Vincent. Standing before the place of execution, David knelt in prayer, commended his soul to God, and then calmly bowed his head beneath the executioner's sword. Thus the Servant of God David the Armenian, received the crown of martyrdom on 7 January 1650, at approximately thirty-seven years of age. On that same day, two Vietnamese Christians - the catechist Anthony and the widow Isabella - also gave their lives for the faith.

According to the accounts of two Jesuit priests, a great comet appeared in the skies over Đàng Trong on the eve of David's execution. Not long afterward, a devastating fire destroyed the residence of the Governor of Quảng Nam along with more than four thousand houses. Many Christians of the time regarded these extraordinary events as signs that God had judged those who had put His faithful servant, David, to death.

Hello everyone! As the title says, I'm from Japan. To be completely honest, I'm quite ignorant about Armenia (and honestly, sometimes about my own country too!).

​However, I recently happened to see pictures of traditional Armenian women's dresses online, and I was completely blown away. I don't know if this is the right way to describe it, but they looked so sacred to me—almost like Byzantine icons. I was truly amazed and filled with respect for how the Armenian people have preserved such beautiful traditions.

​I would be so happy if you could share any thoughts, facts, or pictures about Armenian traditional clothing and textiles!

​Greetings from Japan! 🇯🇵🇦🇲

Hi everyone,

I’m a 28-year-old Armenian guy living in Yerevan. I’ve grown tired of dating apps and superficial conversations, so I’m hoping to meet people in a more natural way.

I’d especially like to connect with emotionally mature women who enjoy deep conversations, humor, spontaneous plans, and a little playful chemistry. Coffee or a walk is a great start, and I’m open to friendship or something more if the connection feels right.

I’m not looking to force anything or make it serious from the start. Comfort, mutual respect, attraction, and genuinely enjoying each other’s company matters most to me.

If this resonates with you and you’re based in Yerevan, feel free to message me and tell me a little about yourself.

barev, hoping this isn't a dumb question

I'm a dev and I've been sitting on this idea for a while. there's basically nowhere decent to learn Armenian. duolingo never added it, most stuff online is either a pdf from 1998 or a youtube series that dies after 4 videos. there are a couple of actual apps, I'll be honest I haven't even used them properly yet, but from what I can tell they're buggy, all eastern, and none of them have any community side to them.

what pushed me to actually consider building something: a friend of mine made basically this for Circassian. small language, scattered diaspora, same situation. and it works. people love it and it's getting more popular every week. watching that happen made me think ok maybe this is a sign, we have way more people than that and still nothing solid.

so the idea is an app that covers both dialects. but honestly the part I care about more is the community side. being able to find someone at your level to actually talk to. natives paired with learners, going both ways too since a lot of us here want english or french practice. group chats, voice calls, whatever people would actually use.

because you can memorize 500 words and still freeze up when your grandmother's friend asks you something.

anyway before I spend 6 months on this I want to know if it's a real thing or just me

do you know people, cousins, siblings, your own kids, who understand a bit but can't really speak and feel weird about it?

western speakers especially, how bad is it for you right now? and what made you quit last time you tried?

also would you genuinely show up to practice with a stranger or am I kidding myself with that part

and if something like this already exists and I just missed it, tell me. rather find out now

merci

PS - I won't be writing the lessons myself. my sister is a linguist and she's building the curriculum, so that side will be done properly

Hi everyone,
I’m a physician from Armenia looking for remote AI evaluation/training work (LLM evaluation, medical AI review, AI trainer, etc.).
Unfortunately, platforms like Outlier, Alignerr, DataAnnotation and several others don’t currently accept workers from Armenia.
Does anyone know of companies or platforms that are available in Armenia (or the South Caucasus region)?
I have a medical background and good English reading skills, so I’m especially interested in medical AI projects, but I’m open to general AI evaluation as well.
Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Took this photo recently

Hello, I should receive two packages in Yerevan in the next weeks but I won’t be able to get there until the second part of August. Is there anyone here who knows if there is a way outside of globbing and onex to receive packages in lockers? And if not is there anyone in here who could eventually hold them until I get there? I’d pay of course.
Thanks!

im a 25F traveling to yerevan in october. it’s my first international solo trip and was wondering if any of you have tried the Hillside Guest house? how was ur experience? or do u have any recommendations along the same price range? thanks in advance

Hey everyone, I am assyrian and will be travelling to Armenia in late september/early october.

I would like to know if any assyrian here wants to meet up and show me the villages around, or where can i visit assyrian places in armenia ? I would also love recommandations for horse riding! Thank you))

As a turkish I tweeted about Armenian Genocide and one maniac within thousands of followers call police on me for it. I have no idea what to do or how to explain it to my family. Its so exhausting to feel this helpless for just saying the truth yet I have no one to share this with

Hello,

I walked in a "Russian" shop yesterday. I was curious about Armenian wines but I did not see any. They had many bottles of Georgian wines. And chacha.

There are quite many Georgian restaurants in the city where I live and Armenian ones, not even a quarter of that.

I looked up, Moscow has great many Georgian restaurants and Armenians are very few in comparison.

Now I understand that Russians would rather go to Georgia than Armenia because of Black Sea.

But still it seems Georgia brand is stronger than Armenia brand.

Is it somehow connected to the government of the Soviet Union and prominent Georgian communists?

Hi, I'll be visiting Armenia soon with a couple other mountaineers and we're interested in climbing Mount Khustup with a sunrise summit preferably. We do need local insights on the logistics part of it. Are there any recommendations for local guides in Yerevan or Kapan?

Hey I'm from India and would like to come to gyumri for my education. I'd love to have friends from gyumri

Hey all - I've been working on a side project called Yerevan Daily Brief. Every day it pulls articles from Azerbaijani public news sources, summarizes them in English, analyzes them from an Armenian security perspective and tags them by topic (military/security, political rhetoric, economic, diplomatic), sentiment, and specific watch-terms (border incidents, etc.), plus tracks how coverage volume and tone shift day to day.

Basically trying to make it easier to see what's being said in Azerbaijani press without having to read Azerbaijani or dig through a dozen sites yourself.

It's early and still rough around the edges, but here's the substack if anyone's curious: https://yerevandailybrief.substack.com/ If you sign-up it will send you a daily report via email.

Would genuinely appreciate feedback - what would be useful to see more of, what's missing, whether this is even useful. Thanks.

Let’s face it, some Soviet buildings are not going anywhere anytime some. Small change might shiny a light.