St. Giragos Cathedral

Inside the church after restoration (2012)

View of the destroyed cathedral in Diyarbakır 2008

The St. Giragos Cathedral ( Armenian Սուրբ Կիրակոս եկեղեցի ) is a 1371 built Armenian Apostolic Church in the Turkish city of Diyarbakir and the largest Armenian church of the Middle East . It was partially destroyed in the course of the Armenian genocide , consecrated again after its rebuilding on October 22, 2011 and again badly damaged in 2016.

history

Rusted entrance sign

The cathedral was built in 1371 and dedicated to St. Dedicated to Cyriacus . After the Church of the Holy Cross on Aghtamar in Van , the St. Giragos Cathedral was the most important church in Western Armenia. During the time of the Armenian genocide in 1915–1916 under Governor Mehmed Reschid , the church was closed and its 29 m high steeple was destroyed. 1913–1918 the German army used the cathedral as their local headquarters; later, even after the founding of the Republic of Turkey in 1923, it was used as a department store for sails and lines as well as a factory.

In the 1950s, the cathedral was placed under the General Directorate for Foundations ( Vakıflar Genel Müdürlüğü ) and returned to the Armenian community in 1960 . Services were celebrated here until 1980, although the Armenian congregation had almost died out due to emigration in the 1970s and 1980s.

Despite sporadic efforts by the Armenian community from Diyarbakır, now living in the diaspora , the church was neglected and left to decay. In 2009 some Armenians born in Diyarbakır but living in Istanbul established a foundation board under the auspices of the Constantinople Patriarchate with the aim of rebuilding the church and regaining the expropriated lands . On October 22, 2011, the Surp Giragos Cathedral was consecrated again after three years of renovation .

During the Turkish offensive against the PKK in February 2016, the church was hit so badly by projectiles that parts of the roof and the outer wall collapsed. Other churches, including the Syrian Orthodox St. Mary's Church , and parts of the old Sur district were also badly affected. On March 26, 2016, the Turkish government ordered the expropriation of St. Giragos Cathedral and several Syrian, Chaldean and Protestant churches in Diyarbakır, as well as a further 6,300 pieces of land, totaling around 80% of the area of all real estate in Sur, in accordance with Article 27 of the Turkish Expropriation Act. The Diyarbakır Bar Association as well as the Armenian Church Foundation filed a lawsuit alleging massive violation of the constitutional right to property and the Lausanne Treaty , which protects the property of Christian minorities. In April 2017, the Turkish State Council (comparable to an administrative court) annulled the expropriation decision for St. Giragos because it violated the Treaty of Lausanne.

particularities

The cathedral had seven altars . The building complex with an area of over 3,200 m² includes chapels , houses for the priests and a school. The original roof was covered with earth from the region. It was used again during the restoration.