The visit is alluded to in an Armenian translation of a Greek letter written by Patriarch Macarius of Jerusalem to his contemporary, St. Vrtanes (ruled 333–341).

[9] The central figure in this development was the leading cleric Esayee Garabedian, who were to become Armenian Patriarch of Jerusalem in 1864–65, and who started photographing in 1857[10] and established a photography workshop within the St. James monastic compound.

Garabed Krikorian opened a photography workshop on Jaffa Road in the 1870s and became himself a teacher, one of his students being Khalil Raad, known as "Palestine's first Arab photographer".

[11][12] Another one of his students, Abraham Guiragossian, worked for the famous Maison Bonfils studio of Beirut and eventually bought it up (see there).

Elia Kahvedjian (1910-1999), a refugee of the Armenian genocide, was one of the leading photographers in Jerusalem at the beginning of the 20th century.

[13] Kegham Djeghalian (1915–1981), another Armenian genocide refugee survivor, opened Gaza's first photography studio in 1944.

In 1919, several master craftsmen were brought to Jerusalem to renovate the tiles covering the facade of the Dome of the Rock.

After the 1967 Six-Day War, the Armenian population, especially in East Jerusalem and the West Bank, experienced a decrease in its numbers because of emigration.

[citation needed] Armenians of Jerusalem were provided with Israeli resident status and some applied for citizenship.

[17] In 1983, tensions arose within the Armenian Quarter of Jerusalem, when Patriarch Yeshighe Derderian replaced Archbishop Shahe Ajamian.

[21] A 2007 survey found that more than 70% of Israelis thought that Israel should recognize the genocide, with 44% willing to break off relations with Turkey over the issue.