In 1895 , at the height of the Hamidian massacres , the school was attacked by an anti-Armenian mob and totally burned to the ground . With the return of normalcy , Tlgadintsi and some colleagues managed to open a few classes in a building in the Lower Quarter of Kharpert , while work to rebuild the Central School at its original site was undertaken with the financial help of Kharpert educational associations in the United States . The move back to the original location took place in 1900 . The rebuilt school continued to be called the " Red College " even though it was no longer painted red . In 1903 , in the course of a crackdown on Armenian militants , Tlgadintsi was arrested and thrown in jail for nine months as a supposed subversive , along with his leading disciple , Rupen Zartarian . Upon his release he was allowed to resume his post as director of the Central School
Hamidian massacres
Hamidian massacres
Tlgadintsi