Peter and Paul Church (Yerevan)

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Peter and Paul Church in Yerevan, before 1936

The Peter and Paul Church ( Armenian Սուրբ Պողոս-Պետրոս եկեղեցի Surb Poghos-Petros jekeghezi ) was a church building of the Armenian Apostolic Church in the Armenian capital Yerevan , which is said to have been built in the 5th or 6th century. It stood in the former old town of Yerevan (Shahar) in what is now the Mitte (Kentron) district and was demolished in November 1930 to make way for the Moscow cinema on Abovyan Street .

history

According to the Armenian historian Karo Ghafadaryan (Կարո Ղաֆադարյան), the Peter and Paul Church was the oldest and largest, if not the only, ancient church in ancient Yerevan. When in the year 607 the newly elected Catholicos of Armenia Abraham I called a meeting in the city of Dvin , he invited Armenian clergymen from the area of ​​the Eastern Roman Empire as well as two priests from Yerevan. From this it is concluded that there must have been at least two large churches in old Yerevan. In the 17th century, the French traveler Jean Chardin visited the city of Yerevan. He mentioned numerous churches in his description of the city without mentioning one with the name Surp Poghos-Petros .

In a severe earthquake in 1679, Yerevan was largely destroyed, including the then Peter and Paul Church, of which only part of the eastern section remained. Soon afterwards, a new church was built from the ruins, which bore the same name as its predecessor.

There is no direct evidence of the reconstruction of the church at that time, but it is assumed that it will reopen at the end of the 17th century. Ghafadaryan found several khachkars ( cross stones ) with the dates 1691 and 1692 on the east and north walls of the church.He also found inscriptions indicating later renovation work, namely 1778 on the arch of the south facade and the year 1820 on the north wall with the indication that Yerevan citizens financed the reconstruction.

demolition

In November 1930, on the instructions of the Soviet authorities , the Peter and Paul Church was demolished to make way for the Moscow cinema . During this time under Josef Stalin , as elsewhere in Yerevan, religious buildings such as churches, chapels and cross stones, but also mosques, were destroyed. Only a few fragments of the church walls and wall paintings of the Yerevan Peter and Paul Church have been preserved and can be seen today in the Yerevan History Museum and the History Museum of Armenia .

Public controversy over a new church

On February 25, 2010, the Armenian government approved an application by the Catholic of the Armenian Apostolic Church in Echmiadzin to take over the Moscow Cinema and purchase neighboring land on Abovyan Street , which was used as an open-air cinema, in order to move to former Peter Square -and-Paul-Kirche to build a new church.

Since the Moscow cinema was very popular among the Yerevan population, public protests quickly broke out. A protest group had 5000 members who collected over 18,000 signatures for a petition to prevent the project. The group turned to Catholicos Karekin II of Armenia and the Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan and called for a thorough debate on the project. Many Armenian architects and intellectuals spoke out in favor of maintaining the open-air cinema. More than 60 Armenian intellectuals sent an open letter to the Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sargsjan with the request to withdraw the decision to build a new church on the area of ​​the open-air cinema. While some critics see this project as another example of the increasing influence of the Armenian Apostolic Church on the state, representatives of the church accused the critics of “a lack of respect for God”. However, the plan was eventually abandoned.

Picture gallery

  • Bell tower at the entrance

  • Altar and apse

Web links

Commons : Church of Peter and Paul (Yerevan)  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

literature

  • Կարո Ղաֆադարյան (Karo Ghafadaryan): Երևանի միջնադարյան հուշարձանները, վիմական արձանագրությունները (architectural monuments and stone inscriptions of medieval Yerevan). Երևան (Yerevan) 1975.
  • Յերվանդ Շահազիզ (Yervand Shahaziz): Հին Երեվանը (The old Yerevan), Մուղնի Հրատարակչություն (Mughni), Երևան (Yerevan) 2003.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Saint Paul and Peter Church, in Armenian Holy Apostolic Church, Araratian Patriarchal Diocese ( Memento of September 4, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
  2. ↑ Կարո Ղաֆադարյան (Karo Ghafadaryan): Երևանի միջնադարյան հուշարձանները, վիմական արձանագրությունները (architectural monuments and stone inscriptions of medieval Yerevan). Երևան (Yerevan) 1975. pp. 159–160.
  3. ↑ Old destination, new church: Government approves plan for another house of worship at armenianow.com
  4. ↑ ՀԱՅԱ U ՏԱՆԻ ՀԱՆՐԱՊԵՏՈՒԹՅԱՆ ԿԱՌԱՎԱՐՈՒԹՅՈՒՆ ՈՐՈՇՈՒՄ - 2010 թվականի N -Ն - ՀԱՅԱՍՏԱՆԻ ՀԱՆՐԱՊԵՏՈՒԹՅԱՆ ԿԱՌԱՎԱՐՈՒԹՅԱՆ 2004 ԹՎԱԿԱՆԻ ՀՈԿՏԵՄԲԵՐԻ 7-Ի N 1616-Ն ՈՐՈՇՄԱՆ ՄԵՋ ՓՈՓՈԽՈՒԹՅՈՒՆ ԿԱՏԱՐԵԼՈՒ ՄԱՍԻՆ (Project of building a new church in place of outdoor theater of Moskva Cinema). The Official Website of the Government of the Republic of Armenia
  5. ^ Marianna Grigoryan: Armenia: Yerevan Architectural Debate Pits Church against Preservationists. ( Memento of the original from December 22, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.eurasianet.org archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Eurasianet, March 24, 2010.
  6. ↑ Young Yerevantsi rally for open-air cinema through popular social network, armenianow.com, March 10 of 2010.
  7. ^ Church disputes: Advocates of Moscow Cinema oppose construction of new church, armenianow.com, April 6, 2010.

Coordinates: 40 ° 10 '54.3 "  N , 44 ° 31' 2.6"  E