St Sarkis Armenian Church (London)

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St. Sargis, London.

St Sarkis ( Armenian Լոնդոնի Սուրբ Սարգիս հայկական եկեղեցի , in transcription: Londoni Surb Sargis hajkakan jekeghezi ) is a church building of the Armenian Apostolic Church in Great Britain and Grade II * listed . It stands in Iverna Gardens , Kensington , London, England . It was built by Calouste Gulbenkian from 1922 to 1923 as a memorial to his parents. The architect was Arthur Davis . Nearby is the largest Armenian church in Britain, St Yeghiche Armenian Church , a converted Anglican church.

history

Dedication for Gulbenkian's parents at the church entrance.

Calouste Gulbenkian , an Armenian oil magnate, funded the construction on condition that it be built as a memorial from his parents, Sarkis and Takouhi. It is consecrated to the Armenian saint Sarkis the warrior (Սուրբ Սարգիս Զորավար, Surb Sargis Sorawar). The Holloway Brothers company carried out the construction work. Construction began in February 1922 and the consecration took place on January 11, 1923. The church was expanded twice: in 1937 a baptistery was added along with a new entrance on the north side and in 1950 a sacristy was added to the south-east of the church.

The patriarch and Catholicos Wasgen I attended the church in 1978 and 1983.

architecture

  • Haghpat bell tower

  • St Sarkis around 1924.

St Sarkis is the only church in England that is built in the traditional Armenian style. The design is based on the model of the bell tower of Haghpat Monastery from the 13th century (1245). It has three floors. It is the seat of the Diocese of the United Kingdom of the Armenian Apostolic Church .

Even The Economist has described the church as an "exotic eastern edifice". The building material is Portland Stone and the floor plan is based on a Greek cross . Above the entrance is an English inscription dedicated to Gulbenkian's parents: "In the Armenian Era 1372." The altar features a painting of the Virgin and Child with a gilt relief of angels in the corners by the Bromsgrove Guild of Applied Arts . There are also sculptures by members of the Gulbenkian family.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Church of St Sarkis (Armenian Church) . Historic England. National Heritage List for England. May 18, 2019. from: Survey of London XLII 1986: 389–391.
  2. ↑ Ben Weinreb and Christopher Hibbert: The London Encyclopaedia. Macmillan 1993: 426. ISBN = 0-333-57688-8
  3. ↑ David Zenian: England: Home to Generations of Armenians. AGBU News Magazine. AGBU
  4. ↑ Հայոց Հայրապետի տասնմեկերորդ ուղևորությունը արտասահման. Լոնդոն. (Hajoz Hajrapeti tasnmekerord ugheworutjune artassahman. London. - Armenian) In: Etchmiadzin 1978, vol. 45, 8-9: 17-31.
  5. ↑ Հովվապետական ​​ուղևորություն Լոնդոն և Փարիզ. (Howwapetakan ugheworutjun London jew Paris. - Armenian) In: Etchmiadzin , 1983 vol. 40, 5-6: 6-48.
  6. ↑ Plate 150: St. Sarkis's Armenian church, Iverna Court. British-history.ac.uk, British History Online.
  7. ^ Frank C. Roberts: Obituaries from the Times, 1951-1960: Including an Index to All Obituaries and Tributes Appearing in the Times During the Years 1951-1960. 1979: 318. Newspaper Archive Developments ISBN 9780903713962 “As a devout member, Gulbenkian has given considerable material assistance to the Armenian Church. He built and has maintained for over thirty years the graceful little church of St. Sarkis in Iverna Gardens, South Kensington. This fine example of classic Armenian ecclesiastical architecture was erected and endowed as a memorial to Gulbenkian's parents, and serves the Armenian congregation of Greater London. "
  8. ↑ Haghpat. armenianheritage.org, Armenian Monuments Awareness Project website.
  9. ^ The Armenian Church Today> Dioceses> Europe. armenianchurch.org Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin (Մայր Աթոռ Սուրբ Էջմիածին, Mayr At'oř Surb Ēĵmiatsin).
  10. ↑ The Economist , Vol. 216, 1965: 344 “... the Armenian church of St Sarkis. The church is the only one of its kind in Britain, an exotic eastern edifice, raising its unlikely head in Iverna Gardens, Kensington. "
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Coordinates: 51 ° 29 ′ 58.7 "  N , 0 ° 11 ′ 37.1"  W.