PHOTO BY HUCK BEARD

Since the Nationality Rooms and Intercultural Exchange Programs began nearly a century ago, Pitt students have studied African diaspora literature in the Israel Heritage Room, experienced John Edgar Wideman’s nonfiction in the Swedish Room and engaged in roundtable discussions about Victorian literature in the opulent Austrian Room.

Each of the 31 classrooms, located in the Cathedral of Learning, is authentic in its depiction of a specific time period or cultural style, and each is special in its own way.

But entering the Armenian Room is transportive. The small classroom (it seats only 16) is made up of 22 tons of stone and steel, modeled after a 10th-12th century library at Sanahin monastery in Northern Armenia. Grand arches lead up to an oculus — electronically lit here, but in the original library, it would have been open to the sky to allow the smoke from the oil lamps to exit as well as provide a source of light. It symbolized the eye of God looking down on the monks.

PHOTO BY HUCK BEARD

The stone carvings throughout the room are reproductions from churches and a cathedral in Armenia; they include eagles, crosses and an image of the sun rising above Mount Ararat, the reported resting place of Noah’s Ark. While not within the borders of Armenia, Mount Ararat is considered the spiritual homeland of the Armenians, who trace their lineage to Noah’s son Japheth.

The year 301 appears above a cross carved in one corner of the room, the year Armenia adopted Christianity as its national religion; it was the first country to do so.

PHOTO BY HUCK BEARD

Another cross sits carved below the date April 24, 1915, the date of the Armenian exodus, when citizens fled genocide during the first World War.

Five survivors from 1915 were still alive in Pittsburgh when the Armenian Room committee was planning the room. Those survivors were invited to put their thumbprints in one of the stone’s mortar, and the youngest Armenian in Pittsburgh at the time — a 6-month-old girl — added her handprint.

PHOTO BY HUCK BEARD

The Nationality Rooms are more than tributes to a particular heritage. All but two are working classrooms and are overseen by a committee often containing prominent members of an ethnic community in Pittsburgh (or someone with an interest or expertise in the arts or literature of the country). Each room is connected to a scholarship program, which awards graduate and undergraduate summer study-abroad scholarships to Pitt students.

The Armenian Room was dedicated on Aug. 28, 1988, making it the 21st Nationality Room.

Covering this bit of history is a basalt fragment from the grounds of Sanahin monastery, which is a UNESCO World Heritage site. Carved into the fragment are the words: “Sanahin X-XII Century | Pittsburgh XX Century.”

Insider’s Tip: Each Nationality Room has carefully chosen artifacts on display. They’re worth more than just a look: listen to the rooms’ audio guides to find out the stories behind them and their connections to Pittsburgh.

While You’re Here: Stop by the Nationality Rooms Gift Center in the center of the Cathedral of Learning’s first floor, which carries an international inventory. You’ll find jewelry from Paris, hand-woven scarves from India, Easter eggs from Lithuania and Ukraine, terracotta warriors from China and so much more.