Holy Trinity Armenian church, Fresno 1914

Holy Trinity Church (

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

hy, Ֆրեզնոյի Սուրբ Երրորդութիւն եկեղեցի, ''Freznoyi Surp Yerortutiun yegeghetsi'') is an

Armenian Apostolic , native_name_lang = hy , icon = Armenian Apostolic Church logo.svg , icon_width = 100px , icon_alt = , image = Էջմիածնի_Մայր_Տաճար.jpg , imagewidth = 250px , a ...

church in

Fresno, California Fresno () is a major city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley region. It covers about and had a population of 542,107 in 2020, makin ...

. Completed in 1914, it is one of the earliest Armenian churches in America and the first to incorporate traditional

Armenian architecture Armenian architecture comprises architectural works with an aesthetic or historical connection to the Armenian people. It is difficult to situate this architectural style within precise geographical or chronological limits, but many of its monumen ...

History

Background

The first

Armenians Armenians ( hy, հայեր, ''hayer'' ) are an ethnic group native to the Armenian highlands of Western Asia. Armenians constitute the main population of Armenia and the ''de facto'' independent Artsakh. There is a wide-ranging diaspora ...

settled in Fresno in the early 1870s. The first joint Armenian

Apostolic Apostolic may refer to: The Apostles An Apostle meaning one sent on a mission: *The Twelve Apostles of Jesus, or something related to them, such as the Church of the Holy Apostles *Apostolic succession, the doctrine connecting the Christian Churc ...

and

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

service was held in 1883 at the First Congregational Church of Fresno. Subsequently, joint

Armenian rite The Armenian Rite () is an independent liturgy used by both the Armenian Apostolic and Armenian Catholic Churches. Liturgy The liturgy is patterned after the directives of Saint Gregory the Illuminator, first official head and patron saint ...

services were held in a rented church by Father Aharon Melkonian. By 1899, the membership of the parish reached 150 and an general meeting decided to build a separate church. On April 1, 1900, the Holy Trinity Church was established at the corner of F and Monterey Streets. The construction of the church, a simple wooden structure, was completed in six months and consecration took place on October 1, 1900. It was officiated by Bishop Hovsep Sarajian. It was the second Armenian church to be built in America after the Church of Worcester, Massachusetts. An Armenian school with some 85 students operated in the adjacent building. By 1910, around 4,000 Armenians lived in Fresno (out of the 5,000 in all of California).

Current church

In 1911 the trustees of the church decided to buy land for a new, larger church. A

land lot In real estate, a lot or plot is a tract or parcel of land owned or meant to be owned by some owner(s). A plot is essentially considered a parcel of real property in some countries or immovable property (meaning practically the same thing) in ...

was purchased for $3,000 at the corner of M Street and Ventura Avenue in 1912. The old church was destroyed in a fire on July 9, 1913. The groundbreaking of the new church took place on November 1, 1913, and cornerstone laying on January 4, 1914. The first

Divine Liturgy Divine Liturgy ( grc-gre, Θεία Λειτουργία, Theia Leitourgia) or Holy Liturgy is the Eucharistic service of the Byzantine Rite, developed from the Antiochene Rite of Christian liturgy which is that of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of C ...

(''Badarak'') took place in the basement on

Palm Sunday Palm Sunday is a Christian moveable feast that falls on the Sunday before Easter. The feast commemorates Christ's triumphal entry into Jerusalem, an event mentioned in each of the four canonical Gospels. Palm Sunday marks the first day of Holy ...

, April 12, 1914. The consecration took place on December 13, 1914 with Bishop Moushegh Seropian of Boston officiating. The architect of the new church was Lawrence Karekin Cone (Condrajian), also known as L. K. Cone. The cost of construction stood at $25,000. It became the first Armenian church to be built in the US in the traditional Armenian church architecture. The area where the church is located is known as " Armenian Town" for its historical Armenian population. It remained a predominantly Armenian area until the mid-1950s.

Later history

In 1927 the Western Diocese of the Armenian Church of North America was established. The church was designated as the cathedral of the diocese, while Bishop Karekin Khachdourian as Primate, who served as pastor until 1933. In 1933, after the murder of

Leon Tourian Archbishop Leon Tourian (; 1 January 1879 – 24 December 1933) was a cleric of the Armenian Apostolic Church. Appointed primate of the Eastern Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church of America in 1931, he was assassinated in New York City by h ...

, the primate of the Eastern Diocese, in New York City by a group of

Dashnaks The Armenian Revolutionary Federation ( hy, Հայ Յեղափոխական Դաշնակցութիւն, ՀՅԴ ( classical spelling), abbr. ARF or ARF-D) also known as Dashnaktsutyun (collectively referred to as Dashnaks for short), is an Armenian ...

, a pro-Soviet group broke away from the pro-Dashnak Holy Trinity Church and formed St Paul's Church in 1939 under the jurisdiction of the

Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin ( hy, Մայր Աթոռ Սուրբ Էջմիածին, translit=Mayr At’oř Surb Ēĵmiatsin), known in Armenian as simply the Mother See (Մայր Աթոռ, ''Mayr At’oř''), is the governing body of the Armen ...

. In 1956 a new building containing a social hall, kitchen and classroom was built next to the church. The church was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

on July 31, 1986. It is currently one of the six Armenian churches in the Fresno area.

Architecture

The architect of the church was Lawrence Karekin Cone (Condrajian), also known as L. K. Cone. It combines American

Revivalism Revivalism may refer to: * Christian revival, increased spiritual interest or renewal in the life of a church congregation or society, with a local, national or global effect * Revivalism (architecture), the use of visual styles that consciously ...

and traditional

. The entrance is in the Beaux-Arts style. The exterior is mostly

brick A brick is a type of block used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a block composed of dried clay, but is now also used informally to denote other chemically cured cons ...

masonry Masonry is the building of structures from individual units, which are often laid in and bound together by mortar; the term ''masonry'' can also refer to the units themselves. The common materials of masonry construction are bricks, building ...

, while the two domes are made of

galvanized Galvanization or galvanizing ( also spelled galvanisation or galvanising) is the process of applying a protective zinc coating to steel or iron, to prevent rusting. The most common method is hot-dip galvanizing, in which the parts are submerged ...

sheet metal. The church is wide, long and high. It has a seating capacity of 660. The church has a basement, main floor and gallery level with a total of . The interior is entirely painted in

beige Beige is variously described as a pale sandy fawn color, a grayish tan, a light-grayish yellowish brown, or a pale to grayish yellow. It takes its name from French, where the word originally meant natural wool that has been neither bleached no ...

. In 1982 Kero Antoyan painted murals on the four

pendentive In architecture, a pendentive is a constructional device permitting the placing of a circular dome over a square room or of an elliptical dome over a rectangular room. The pendentives, which are triangular segments of a sphere, taper to points ...

s. The church contains paintings of the Christ and Mary, St. Sahak and St.

Mesrop Mashtots Mesrob or Mesrop ( hy, Մեսրոպ) is an Armenian given name. Mesrob / Mesrop may refer to: *Mesrop Mashtots, also Saint Mesrop, Armenian monk, theologian and linguist. Inventor of the Armenian alphabet **Mesrop Mashtots Institute of Ancient Manu ...

References

;Notes ;Citations

External links

* {{Contemporary Armenian Churches Churches in Fresno County, California Churches in Fresno, California Armenian Apostolic churches in the United States Armenian-American culture in California National Register of Historic Places in Fresno County, California Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in California Churches completed in 1914 1914 establishments in California Tourist attractions in Fresno, California Romanesque Revival church buildings in California