The Avakian are a rich and large Armenian family. Aram and Assadour, the two brothers, have decided to plan a family get together. One, a doctor, emigrated to Venice where he has found success and married an Italian countess. The other owns land near a little Anatolian village where a large Armenian community resides and where he is respected by everyone, even the Turkish authorities.
While preparations for the long journey to Anatolia get underway in Venice, Aram, his wife Armineh, his aunt Hasmig, and his sister Nunik, get ready to welcome their relatives.
The family homestead, the House of Skylarks, where the all the Avakian children were born, is restored. In the period prior to this family reunion, feelings and ambitious plans – and even a dangerous and impossible love story between Nunik and a young Turkish policeman – develop.
No one seems to notice the storm of the Great War gathering on the horizon…