Saint Paul and Peter Church ( hy, Սուրբ Պողոս-Պետրոս Եկեղեցի; ''Surp Poghos-Petros yekeghetsi'') was an
Armenian Apostolic church in
Yerevan
Yerevan ( , , hy, Երևան , sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia and one of the world's oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerevan is the administrative, cultural, and i ...
,
Armenia
Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ' ...
originally built during the 5th-6th centuries. It was demolished in November 1930 to make room for the
Moscow Cinema
Moscow Cinema ( hy, Մոսկվա կինոթատրոն ''Moskva kinotatron''), is a cinema hall in the Armenian capital Yerevan, located at the Charles Aznavour Square, adjacent to Abovyan Street.
History and structure
The cinema was opened in 19 ...
on
Abovyan Street
Abovyan Street ( hy, Աբովյան Փողոց), is a street at the central Kentron district of the Armenian capital Yerevan. It was known as Astafyan Street between 1868 and 1920.
The street runs from the central Republic Square to the stat ...
.
History
According to Armenian historian
Karo Ghafadaryan, the church of Saint Peter and Paul was the oldest and biggest church in old Yerevan. It was not the only church in old Yerevan. In fact, when in 607 AD the newly elected
Catholicos of Armenia
Abraham I assembled a meeting at the city of
Dvin, he invited clergymen from territories controlled by the
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
as well as two priests from Yerevan. Therefore, this tells us that in old Yerevan there were at least two large churches. In the 17th century, French traveler
Jean Chardin
Jean Chardin (16 November 1643 – 5 January 1713), born Jean-Baptiste Chardin, and also known as Sir John Chardin, was a French jeweller and traveller whose ten-volume book ''The Travels of Sir John Chardin'' is regarded as one of the finest ...
visited Yerevan. In his description about the city he mentioned that there were numerous churches in old Yerevan, but did not mention a church with the name of "Surp Poghos-Petros".
In 1679, a
calamitous earthquake leveled much of the city and destroyed many structures in the neighboring regions. Amongst the structures that lay in ruin was the church of Saint Peter and Paul. A portion of the eastern section of the church survived, and the rest was soon rebuilt from its ruins. The newly reconstructed church went by the same name as its predecessor.
There are not any known historical references to the rebuilding of Poghos-Petros Church. Most likely, the church was reconstructed toward the end of the 17th century. Ghafadaryan found the years 1691 and 1692 inscribed upon some of the
khachkars built into the church's eastern and northern walls. From two inscriptions Karo Ghafadaryan found that further restoration efforts had taken place again in later years. The first inscription, located upon the arch of the southern façade, tells that the church was restored in 1778. In the second inscription, inscribed onto the northern wall, states that the church was restored in 1820 with the financial assistance of the city's residents.
Destruction
In November 1930, the Saint Paul and Peter Church was destroyed by the Soviet regime to build
Moscow Cinema
Moscow Cinema ( hy, Մոսկվա կինոթատրոն ''Moskva kinotatron''), is a cinema hall in the Armenian capital Yerevan, located at the Charles Aznavour Square, adjacent to Abovyan Street.
History and structure
The cinema was opened in 19 ...
. Many khachkars and religious structures such as churches, chapels, and shrines were destroyed across the country during this time to eliminate religion. Some fragments of the church's walls and wall-paintings survived. They are now displayed in the
Yerevan History Museum
The Yerevan History Museum ( hy, Երևանի Պատմության Թանգարան (''Yerevani Patmut'yan T'angaran'')) is the history museum of Yerevan, the capital city of Armenia. The museum was founded in 1931 as the Communal Museum. Current ...
and
History Museum of Armenia
The History Museum of Armenia (armenian: Հայաստանի պատմության թանգարան) is a museum in Armenia with departments of Archaeology, Numismatics, Ethnography, Modern History and Restoration. It has a national collection of 4 ...
.
New church and public controversy
On February 25, 2010 the Armenian government approved a proposal to manage
Moscow Cinema
Moscow Cinema ( hy, Մոսկվա կինոթատրոն ''Moskva kinotatron''), is a cinema hall in the Armenian capital Yerevan, located at the Charles Aznavour Square, adjacent to Abovyan Street.
History and structure
The cinema was opened in 19 ...
Ltd. and to acquire the land currently occupied by the cinema's outdoor theater on
Abovyan Street
Abovyan Street ( hy, Աբովյան Փողոց), is a street at the central Kentron district of the Armenian capital Yerevan. It was known as Astafyan Street between 1868 and 1920.
The street runs from the central Republic Square to the stat ...
in favour of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, for the purpose of building a new church at the site of what was once the church of Poghos-Petros.
The decision initiated some protests among the public. After the plan was announced, a group named Save Moscow Cinema Open-Air Theater enlisted some 5,000 members and collected over 18,000 signatures during the petition to stop the project. The group addressed Catholicos
Karekin II
Catholicos Karekin II ( hy, Գարեգին Բ, also spelled Garegin; born 21 August 1951) is the current Catholicos of All Armenians, the supreme head of the Armenian Apostolic Church. In 2013 he was unanimously elected the Oriental Orthodox he ...
of Armenia as well as the Armenian Prime Minister
Tigran Sargsyan, calling for a thorough public debate about the proposal and they are still waiting for their replies.
Many Armenian architects and intellectuals in have spoken in defense of the open-air theater. More than 60 Armenian intellectuals sent an open letter to Armenian Prime Minister
Tigran Sargsyan with a request to revise the decision on construction of a church at the place of the open-air cinema hall. The project is seen by some critics as another example of the expanding influence of the Armenian Church into state affairs. In response, representatives of the Armenian Church have accused critics of the construction project of "lacking due respect for God".
Article regarding cinema house
armenianow.com However, the plan was later withdrawn due to the limited space of the location.
Gallery
File:Surb poghos petros.png, The belfry at the entrance
File:The altar of Saint peter and paul yerevan.png, The altar and apse
See also
* Gethsemane Chapel
* Saint Gregory the Illuminator Church, Yerevan
*History of Yerevan The history of modern Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, traces its roots back to Erebuni Fortress
an ancient Urartian fortified monument from which also the modern city of Yerevan derives its name. The earliest reference to Yerevan in the medieval ...
References
ՍԲ. ՊՈՂՈՍ-ՊԵՏՐՈՍ
by Lyusiya Arakelyan in “Iravunk de facto” newspaper
Further reading
*Karo Ghafadaryan, Երևանի միջնադարյան հուշարձանները, վիմական արձանագրությունները (Monuments and lapidary inscriptions of Medieval Yerevan), 1975, Yerevan
*Yervand Shahaziz, Հին Երեվանը (Old Yerevan), Mughni Publishing, 2003, Yerevan
{{Yerevan landmarks
Armenian Apostolic church buildings in Yerevan
4th-century churches
Demolished churches in the Soviet Union
Buildings and structures demolished in 1930
Demolished buildings and structures in Armenia