The Church of the Virgin Mary's Immaculate Conception (; ) is a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

church in

Baku Baku (, ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Azerbaijan, largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and in the Caucasus region. Baku is below sea level, which makes it the List of capital ci ...

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

. The original church, also named Church of the Immaculate Conception operated from 1915 to 1931, when it was ordered destroyed by the

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

government. In 2006, a new Catholic Church bearing the same name was rebuilt in a different part of Baku. On 29 April 2007, the new church was consecrated by

Apostolic Nuncio An apostolic nuncio (; also known as a papal nuncio or simply as a nuncio) is an ecclesiastical diplomat, serving as an envoy or a permanent diplomatic representative of the Holy See to a state or to an international organization. A nuncio is ...

in Transcaucasia, Monsignor

Claudio Gugerotti Claudio Gugerotti (born 7 October 1955) is an Catholic Church in Italy, Italian Catholic prelate who has served as prefect of the Dicastery for the Eastern Churches since 2022. He previously worked in the diplomatic service of the Holy See, serv ...

. The parish is administered by the

Salesians of Don Bosco The Salesians of Don Bosco (SDB), formally known as the Society of Saint Francis de Sales (), is a religious congregation of men in the Catholic Church, founded in 1859 by the Italian priest John Bosco to help poor and migrant youth during the ...

History

In 1997, the Catholic community of Baku was re-established. In 2000, the Apostolic Prefecture of Azerbaijan was created. After Pope

John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

's visit to Azerbaijan in 2002, it was granted land to build a new church. The cornerstone of the new church was blessed by

. The new Church of the Virgin Mary's Immaculate Conception was built in 2006, in a different spot of Baku according to the Italian architect Paolo Ruggiero's project. The church was completed in the

postmodern Postmodernism encompasses a variety of artistic, cultural, and philosophical movements that claim to mark a break from modernism. They have in common the conviction that it is no longer possible to rely upon previous ways of depicting the wo ...

style and the

façade A façade or facade (; ) is generally the front part or exterior of a building. It is a loanword from the French language, French (), which means "frontage" or "face". In architecture, the façade of a building is often the most important asp ...

recalls some of the

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...

style of the 1912 original church. The church was designed to have a pastoral center and a residency for priests. The statue of the Virgin Mary by local sculptors was set up over the entrance of the church which has 200 benches. The church bells were a present from

Lech Kaczyński Lech Aleksander Kaczyński (; 18 June 194910 April 2010) was a Polish politician who served as the city mayor of Warsaw from 2002 until 2005, and as President of Poland from 2005 until his death in 2010 in an air crash. The aircraft carrying ...

, then President of Poland. On 29 April 2007 the Apostolic Nuncio in Transcaucasia Monsignor Claudio Gugerotti administered the rite of consecration of the church. The church was dedicated on Sunday, March 7, 2008, by Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone.

References

External links

* {{Baku landmarks 21st-century religious buildings and structures in Azerbaijan 21st-century Roman Catholic church buildings Churches in Baku Roman Catholic churches completed in 2006 Roman Catholic churches in Azerbaijan

History

See also

References

External links