Life in the Village of Tchingiler: Origins
Friday, March 9, 2012 at 9:09PM;){kind=link}
Its early morning on Christmas day. The night was colder than usual and a light snow has fallen throughout the night. Nonetheless, the crisp air is countered by a strong morning sun and the silence of the northwest winds.
There are nearly eight hundred Armenian homes in and around the village of Tchingiler. Many are still asleep having attended the short midnight mass at Gadar[1], the lone Armenian Cathedral in the center of the village. Other families like your's would be attending the morning mass and are already on their way to church to rejoice and pray.
Tchingiler is a pure Armenian populated village. However, that was not always the case. Established over three hundred years before in 1590, its oldest immigrants were a mix of Turkish and Armenian. Over the years, the Turkish population gradually decreased and by 1830, the village inhabitants were of only Armenian descent. The name of the village was derived from the Turkish word “Delibash Jengnilet” meaning “crazy-head fighter”. It was named after Ouzoum Toros, hero of battles centuries gone by and forgotten, except by a few…
[1] Armenian; "apex, top of a mountain, perfect, pure".
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