Zabel Yessayan

The Gardens of Silihdar is a memoir of Zabel Yesayan’s childhood in Constantinople, offering a vivid portrait of Armenian family and community life during the late nineteenth century. Through memories of her neighbourhood, relatives, gardens, and everyday encounters, Yesayan recreates a world shaped by cultural traditions, social hierarchies, and the tensions of a changing Ottoman Empire. Her recollections capture the curiosity and independence of a young girl gradually discovering the complexities of the society around her. Beyond its intimate family scenes, the memoir preserves a picture of Armenian life in Constantinople before the devastating events that would transform the community. Yesayan combines personal reflection with cultural memory, exploring childhood, belonging, and the importance of remembering a world that political upheaval would eventually threaten to erase.