Church of Our Lady (Aleppo)
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The Church of the Holy Mother of God ( Arabic كنيسة السيدة العذراء مريم, DMG Kanīsat as-Sayyida al-ʿAḏrāʾ Maryam , Armenian Սուրբ Աստուածածին Եկեղեցի Surb Astwazazin jekeghezi ) is a church of the Armenian Apostolic Church in the Syrian city of Aleppo . It is located in the Sulaymaniyah district.
Predecessor church in al-Judaide
The Armenian Apostolic parish in Sulaymaniyah sees its church as a direct successor to the old Church of Our Lady in the al-Judaide district of Aleppo. A continuous presence of the Armenians can be proven here at least since the 15th century, with 1429 being given as the founding date of the local Church of Our Lady, the building of which is right next to the Armenian Apostolic Forty Martyrs Cathedral . At the beginning of the 20th century the little used church was converted into a church library. In 1991 the building was converted into a church museum and was named Zarehian Treasury after the Armenian Catholicos Zareh I of Cilicia.
history
After the Hamid massacres of the Armenians from 1894 to 1896 and even more after the genocide of the Syrian Christians in the course of the First World War , the Armenian population of Aleppo increased considerably as a result of refugees from the areas of what is now Turkey , with many of these refugees in the Sulaymaniyah district settled down. To the present day, differences between “old Armenians”, that is, Armenian families who have lived in Aleppo for centuries, and “new Armenia”, that is the descendants of the refugees, play a role, with the Forty Martyrs Cathedral in al-Judaide according to information of whose deacon Kevork is above all the church of the "old Armenians". In Sulaymaniyah, however, despite the large number of Armenians, there was no Armenian Apostolic Church of its own for a long time. Many of the Armenians in Sulaymaniyah came from Aintab ( Gaziantep ) in Cilicia , including the clergyman Zarmayr Hindoyan , who began collecting donations in the 1960s and thus acquired land for the church.
On September 10, 1972, the building site was blessed by Catholicos Choren I of Cilicia during the tenure of Bishop Datev Sarkissian . The church was completed in 1982 and consecrated on May 1, 1983 by Karekin Sarkissian . In 1987 a large hall with a stage was added for the parish, which is used for cultural events and seminars.
In 1993, a Khachkar by Sarkis Balmanougian was built to the right of the main entrance to commemorate the genocide of the Armenians. The church was renovated in 1998.
During the civil war in Syria , the church suffered some damage to the roof and bell tower, which is why reconstruction work took place in 2019.
Church facilities
The Gertasirats secondary school and the Zohrab Kaprielian theater are connected to the Armenian Church .
Web links
literature
- Armenian Prelate of Peria (Ed.): Armenian sites of Aleppo . Armenian Prelacy of Peria Co., 1992, p. 40 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Spencer Osberg: Aleppo: A Syrian Mosaic. An ancient city is home to diverse faith communities. CNEWA (Catholic Near East Welfare Association), November 2009.
- ^ Armenian church being restored in Aleppo. Panorama on September 16, 2019.
Coordinates: 36 ° 13 '11.3 " N , 37 ° 9' 31.3" E