Saint John the Baptist Church (, ''Surp Hovhannes Mkrtich'') is an active church in the old area of

Kond KOND (107.5 FM, "La Explosiva 107.5") is a commercial radio station that is licensed to Hanford, California, United States and serves the Fresno area. The station is owned by Latino Media Network; under a local marketing agreement, it was progr ...

Yerevan Yerevan ( , , ; ; sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia, as well as one of the world's List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerev ...

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

. First, it was built on the height of Kond district, in 1710, in the place of a medieval church ruined as the result of a 1689 earthquake. It was built by a rich man, Melik Aghamal, living in Yerevan. Like the other medieval churches, this is a three-nave basilic church. The rectangular plan of the church includes the prayer-hall and the main altar on the eastern side, attached to which are the sacristies.

History

Being concerned by the unattractive state of the church, in 1973, architect

Rafael Israelyan Rafayel "Rafo" Israyelian (; – 8 September 1973) was a Soviet Armenian architect. Seen as a follower of Alexander Tamanian, Israyelian designed some of Soviet Armenia's most prominent structures, including the Sardarapat Memorial, the Yerev ...

presented to Catholicos of All Armenians

Vazgen I Vazgen I also Vazken I of Bucharest (), born Levon Garabed Baljian (; September 20, 1908 – August 18, 1994) was the Catholicos of All Armenians between 1955 and 1994, for a total of 39 years, the 4th longest reign in the history of the Armenian ...

a project of basic reconstruction of the church. The plan was improved, but the architect died the same year. After 10 years author's son, architect Areg Israyelian turned his father's initiative into a technical project, which was allowed to realize. The work project was prepared by the honored architect

Baghdasar Arzoumanian Baghdasar Arzoumanian (; January 1, 1916 – November 19, 2001) was an Armenian architect and designer based in Yerevan, Armenia. He designed a large body of civil and religious buildings as well as many smaller works. Education and background ...

and designing engineer Avetik Tekevejian. In 1980s the Church was entirely reconstructed and restored under the direct leadership of the civil engineer Mikayel Hovhannissian. The dome and the walls of the church were faced with tuff stone. Large-scale works were realized inside the church. In the western side an additional storey was built for the choir, the floor was paved with marble, the wall of the main altar was ornamented, the interior was renovated. Also the bell-tower of the church was built. In 2000 the educational-cultural center “Hovhannes Kozern” was built nearby the church where foreign language and computer courses are organized, the school of Icon art functions.

Gallery

File:Սուրբ_Յովհաննէս_եկեղեցի,_Երեւան.jpg, Inside the church during Sunday liturgy service File:Eriwan 1989 001.jpg, St. John the Baptist Church before the renovation (1989) - view from Hotel Dvin File:YerevanStHovhannes.jpg, The belfry at the entrance File:Surb Hovanes Mkrtich Church, Kond.JPG, Surb Hovanes Mkrtich Church, Kond

External links

About Saint John the Baptist Church in Yerevan

Yerevan Municipality
{{Yerevan landmarks Armenian Apostolic church buildings in Yerevan Churches completed in 1710 18th-century churches in Armenia 18th-century Oriental Orthodox church buildings