ERZEROOM, ERZERUM, or ARzEttum, the name of One of the most considerable of the pachalics of Arme nia, and of the principal place of the pachalic. It is said to be divided into 12 districts or sunjeets, governed by a pasha of three tails, who resides at Erzeroom, the capi tal. This city, known to the Byzantines by the name of Erze, is one of the most populous and flourishing cities in the kingdom, and is situated about three or four miles from one of the streams which runs into the Euphrates. The town is ill built, the streets are very dirty, and the houses are for the most part low, and built of wood. The bazars are large and well supplied with provisions ; but fruit is very scarce, as it is all brought by the Georgians from the province of Akisha, which is three or four days journey distant. In 1810 there were nearly 40 mosques, four of which were deemed handsome, a Greek church, a large Arminian chapel, and three celebrated monaste •ies at some distance from the city.
The town is surrounded with walls, and on the south is protected by a citadel mounting 20 pieces of cannon of various calibres. On its eastern face it has regular embrasures; but from its want of solidity, it is equally defenceless with' the rest of the castle. On the north side of the town is a very high mountain, covered with eternal snow. The plain in front is about 20 miles in circumference, and is adorned with more than 60 vil lages. in the year 1807, when the French legation un der General Gardanne passed through this place, there 'was on the ramparts a house in ruins, which was used for leprous persons. The plague then raged in the
town, carrying off from 20 to 25 persons daily. The principal articles of manufacture in Erzeroom are, cop per, the ore of which is brought from a place about three clays journey from the town, and the skin of a spe cies of martin. Erzeroom is the staple of the merchan dise of India, consisting of silk, cotton, painted linens, spices, rhubarb, madder, and zedoary.
The climate of Erzeroom is intensely cold in winter, but the air is salubrious, the water good, and the natives strong and healthy. The winter commences in the month of August, when the snow begins to fall. It continues on the ground from October till March, when it melts, and causes all the rivers in the country to overflow their banks. According to Mr Macdonald Kinnier, the popu lation of the city was about 100,000, of whom 15,000 were Armenians, and the rest with the exception tofE00 or 300 Greeks. The author of the (' journal," who accompanied the French Legation in 1807 and 1808, makes the population 130,000, and says that 500 of these were Armenian catholics.
Erzeroom is five ordinary days journey from the Black Sea, thirteen from Diarbeker, and nine front Bayazid. It is situated in East Long. 40° 57', and North Lat. 39° 57'. See Journal d'un royage dans la Turquic D'Asie, et la Perse, fait en 1807 et 1308, p. 21. Paris 1809 ; and Macdonald Kennier's Geographical Memoir of the Persian Empire, p. 321, 322. Lond. 1813. (w)