A Unique Memorial Site for Genocide Survivors
For almost a hundred years, the Birds’ Nest cemetery, which was originally built in 1924 by the orphans themselves, has been a impromptu site of pilgrimage and commemoration for generations of Armenians. It is registered as a private cemetery, and serves as the final resting place for 33 Armenian Genocide survivors.
Houshamadian, a book published in Beirut by Hamaskayine Press about the first years of the orphanage, describes how in 1924, Mehran Zadigian became the first orphan to be buried in the cemetery. He had helped build it with his classmates the same year.
As per Armenian customs and tradition, the cemetery is visited on Merelots (Remembrance Day of the Dead), following Christmas and Easter by the few families that have relatives resting there. On several occasions the cemetery has been included as a site of official Genocide commemorations. Community leaders and officials, as well as prominent members of the clergy, have led such processions.
The surface area of the cemetery is less than 300 sqm, i.e less than 1% of the total land area of Plot 642. The cemetery is a part of the area that is classified as public domain under the zoning regulations for the preservation of the old city.
The Campaign to Preserve the Birds' Nest 