Erzerûm, an important town in Turkish Armenia, in 39° 55' N. lat., and 41° 20' E. long., not far from the Kara-Su, or western source of the Euphrates. It is situated on a high but tolerably well cultivated plain, 6200 feet above the level of the sea, surrounded by mountains. The climate is cold in winter, but hot and dry in summer. Erzerûm is the residence of English, Russian, German, and French consular agents; and its population is estimated at 40,000, consisting of 30,000 Turks, 8000 Armenians, and 2000 Persians, who carry on a brisk trade, and have thus attained to a degree of prosperity unusual in the East. The copper and iron wares of Erzerûm have acquired a wide celebrity. Situated at the junction of the important highways leading from Trebizond, Transcaucasia, Persia, Kurdistan, Mesopotamia, and Anatolia, Erzerûm forms an entrepôt of commerce between Europe on the one hand and the interior of Asia, and particularly Persia, on the other. The streets, the houses of which are built chiefly of volcanic stone cemented with mud, are narrow, crooked, and filthy; and ruins of fortifications and of buildings formerly magnificent everywhere meet the eye. The town consists of the fortress, strictly so called, and four suburbs. The fortress, which is inclosed by a high wall, has, on the west, a citadel (El-Ka'la), with many curious monuments, and a mosque of Christian origin. The fortress also contains fifteen other mosques, the residence of the chief-magistrate, some caravanserais, and a few elegant houses belonging to the higher order of officials and Mohammedan merchants. The suburbs boast twenty-four mosques, several Armenian churches, and a number of large bazaars and caravanserais. Erzerûm imports shawls, silk goods, cotton, tobacco, rice, indigo, &c., and exports corn, sheep and cattle, horses, mules, and gall-nuts. The principal trades carried on are tanning, dyeing morocco leather, and blacksmiths' and coppersmiths' work. But since Russian Transcaucasia has provided a safe trade-route to Persia, the prosperity of Erzerûm has greatly suffered. It was first conquered by the Arabs in 700, but retaken by the Byzantines fifty years later. After various vicissitudes, it fell into the hands of the Seljuks; the Mongols took it in 1241; and finally, in 1517, it passed into the possession of the Turks. It still, however, continued to be the most important city in the country, and at the commencement of the 19th century had a population of 100,000 inhabitants. In the war of 1829, between the Turks and Russians, the taking of Erzerûm by Paskievich decided the campaign in Asia. Erzerûm was an important military centre during the wars of 1854-55 and 1877-78, and much hard fighting was done in its neighbourhood. In December 1877 the
Russians closed round the city, already hard pressed, and reduced its defenders to the utmost distress; in February 1878 it was surrendered to Russia, who held it till October, when it was restored to the Turks. See Curzon, Armenia (1854); Norman, Armenia and the 1877 Campaign (1878).