Church of the Queen of the Universe

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Armenian Catholic Church of the Queen of the Universe in Damascus

The Church of the Queen of the Universe ( Arabic كنيسة ملكة الكون, DMG Kanīsat or Malikat al-Kaunكاتدرائية سلطانة العالم, DMG Kātidrāʾīyat Sulṭānat al-ʿĀlam , literally "Cathedral of the Sultan of the World") is the cathedral of the Patriarchal Exarchate Damascus of the Armenian Catholic Church. It is located in the Christian quarter of the old town of the Syrian capital Damascus , about 100 m west of the north-eastern city gate Bāb Tūmā (Thomastor).

Location

The Church of the Queen of the Universe is located in the residential area of ​​al-Tal ("the hill", التل, DMG at-Tall ) on the north side of the "Firewood Canal Street" (قناية الحطب, DMG Qanāyat al-Ḥaṭab , also rue Qnayet Al-Hatab ), house number 54, about 100 m west of its confluence with Bāb-Tūmā Street (شارع باب توما, DMG Šāriʿ Bāb Tūmā ) just south of the roundabout at Bāb Tūmā . On the south side of the street opposite the church is the 500 year old Hammam Bakri (حمام بكري, DMG Ḥammām Bakrī ).

history

The first Armenian- Catholic congregation in Damascus was established in 1763. The first pastor was Hovsep Takatlian from 1778 to 1782. On old city maps you can see that the old Armenian Catholic Church of Damascus is next to the Lazarist monastery on the eastern corner of Al-Azariya Street ( Lazarus Street,شارع العازرية) with Michael-Naimy-Gasse (حارة ميخائيل نعيمة) was standing. This was badly damaged in the massacre in the Christian quarter of Damascus in 1860 . The present-day Armenian cathedral was built by the Jesuits in 1930 , and the archbishopric to the right of it was built in 1920. The church is therefore still listed as a Jesuit church on the old maps. The Jesuits could not hold the building complex, however, and so the present property and building were acquired by the Armenian Catholic community in 1959 with funds from the philanthropist Hanin Elias Qudsi (1893–1971). A school was also completed in 1961 with his money. On November 6, 1984, the Armenian Catholic Patriarchal Exarchate Damascus was established, so that the Armenian Catholic Church in the old town of Damascus became a cathedral. In 2000 and 2001 the church, the bishopric and other rooms were renovated. The church was now named Cathedral of the Queen of the Universe. Hovsep Arnaoutian became bishop in 1997 , and Parsegh Baghdasarian became pastor of the Damascus parish . At that time there were 5,000 Armenian Catholics in 700 families in Damascus.

Architecture and facilities

The church building, completed in 1930, has a cruciform floor plan and gable roofs with crossed gables . The two-storey building has a light-colored facade and a large round rose window on the front, including a portico in front of the wooden entrance door with a statue of Jesus on the gable roof and a simple cross on top of the gable. The four-storey house of the archbishop from the 1920s to the right of the church is made of white stone and has a richly decorated Armenian cross ( Chatschkar ) above the sign “Armenian Catholic Archdiocese” . In front of the church there are several monuments: a statue of the Virgin Mary from 1994, a memorial to the patron of the community, Hanin Elias Qudsi (1893–1971), a statue of Saint Rita from 2000 and a memorial to the victims of the Armenian genocide (ab 1915), which was inaugurated on its 50th anniversary on April 24, 1965 and where commemorations take place every year on this day.

bishop

Joseph Arnaouti ( ICPB ), born on May 2, 1936 in Aleppo , has been the eparch of the Armenian Catholic Eparchy of Damascus since March 18, 1990 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d متري هاجي اثناسيو ، قتيبة شهابي ، 2005 ، اديرة وكنائس دمشق وريفها: (بحث ميداني توثيقي تاريخي اثري)[ Mitri Haji Athanasio , Qutaiba Shihabi : Monasteries and churches in Damascus and their landscape (historical archaeological documentary research). Damascus 2005], 5.كاتدرائية سلطانة العالم[ The Cathedral of the Sultana of the World ].
  2. ↑ Patriarchal Exarchate of Damas (Armenian). Catholic Hierarchy, accessed May 14, 2020.
  3. ^ A b Armenian Catholic Patriarchal Exarchate Damascus. Armenian Catholic Church, 2004.
  4. ↑ a b Older German tourist map of Damascus in: Bettina Jurschik: City fortifications, city gates and citadel. In: Hicham Tannous et al .: Excursion Damascus - Syria from May 27, 2007 to June 3, 2007 as part of the master's degree in Monument Care and Urban Development at the TU Dresden , pp. 50–53, here p. 50.
  5. ↑ Older English-language tourist map of Damascus in: Diana Darke: My House in Damascus: An Inside View of the Syrian Revolution. House Publishing, London 2014.
  6. Jump up ↑ Church of the Queen of the Universe, Damascus, Syria, Damascus 22281, Syria, Bab Touma, Armenian Patriarchal Exarchate of Damascus. Gcatholic, January 20, 2020 and Patriarchal Exarchs of Damascus (Armenian Rite). Gcatholic, April 30, 2020.

Coordinates: 33 ° 30 ′ 47.1 ″  N , 36 ° 18 ′ 49.2 ″  E