Categories: PeopleWorld

Simeon Lehatsi – Travel Notes

Simeon Lehatsi (Armenian: Սիմեոն Լեհացի, Polish: Symeon z Zamoscia, 1584-1639) was an Armenian traveler, writer, and poet from the city of Zamość, which is now in Poland.

Lehatsi was a significant member of the Polish community, and his parents were immigrants from the Crimea. He was a very God-fearing and willful man, having his own view on everything.

At the age of 20, Lehatsi started a pilgrimage to holy locations. Throughout 11 years, he has visited Constantinople, Venice, Rome, Florence, Mush, Alexandria, Cairo, Jerusalem, Nazareth, Damascus, Aleppo, Ankara, and many other major cities. His foot has stepped on the territory of fourteen modern states, such as Ukraine, Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey, Northern Macedonia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Italy, Vatican, Malta, Greece, Egypt, Israel, and Syria.

Simeon began his journey on February 15, 1608, in Lviv and completed it in the spring of 1619. While traveling, he wrote his “Travel Notes”.

Digitized original book in Armenian: Polona.Pl

Armenian text: digilib.aua.am

The only translation into Russian from M.O. Darbinyan: www.armenianhouse.org

The interactive map below (created by HAYASA) displays markers and the entire route described in the “Travel Notes”: www.google.com. The purpose of this map is to assist readers in geographic orientation and fully show the path Lehatsi has traveled.

Source: HAYASA

Vigen Avetisyan

Recent Posts

The Land of Kajants: Language, Kings, and Gods

Reconsidering the Language and Sacred Heritage of Urartu in Armenian Historical Thought For more than…

1 day ago

Hayasa-Azzi: A Powerful Armenian Kingdom of the Armenian Highlands

Among the earliest known states of the Armenian Highlands, few are as historically important as…

2 weeks ago

The Frescoes of Dadivank Monastery and the Misinterpretation of Heritage

The medieval monastery of Dadivank is one of the most important spiritual and artistic centers…

3 weeks ago

Armenian Orphan Girls in New York (1917): A Forgotten Act of Witness and Relief

In 1917, at the height of global upheaval during World War I, a small but…

4 weeks ago

The Armenian Genocide: State Crime, Mass Participation, and the Burden of Historical Responsibility

The Armenian Genocide (1915–1921 ...) was not an accident of war, nor a tragic byproduct…

4 weeks ago

The First Printed Armenian Bible (Amsterdam, 1666–1668)

Introduction The first printed edition of the Bible in the Armenian language stands as one…

1 month ago