Once Upon a Time

Lale Kıraathanesi on Tavukçu Fethi Street in Pangaltı recently closed its doors. It is currently undergoing rapid renovation. When I stopped by, the chairs had been taken away, the counter and the stove were dismantled, and the “tea time” sign on the wall had been taken down, though the sign on the window was still in place.

The newspaper archives of the Samuelian Bookstore in the heart of Paris, a vital landmark of Armenian cultural heritage, are being transformed into a digital map through AI technology. Calfa and its partners have entered a new phase to uncover Armenian shops, associations, and social life in 20th-century Paris.

I began my journey to learn of these forgotten communities some 7 years ago, prompted by a volley of questions I posed to my great-aunt concerning my father’s maternal lineage. Entirely unaware of the impact of her reply, my great-aunt remarked, without sentiment, that my great-grandmother was from Burdur.