Liberation Mosque ( tr, Kurtuluş Camii), formerly the St. Mary's Cathedral or Holy Mother of God Church ( hy, Սուրբ Աստուածածին Եկեղեցի, Romanized as ), is located in the Tepebaşı district of

Gaziantep Gaziantep (), previously and still informally called Aintab or Antep (), is a major city and capital of the Gaziantep Province, in the westernmost part of Turkey's Southeastern Anatolia Region and partially in the Mediterranean Region, approximat ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

. It was built as an

Armenian church Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...

, but, after the

Armenian genocide The Armenian genocide was the systematic destruction of the Armenians in the Ottoman Empire, Armenian people and identity in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Spearheaded by the ruling Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), it was ...

, it was converted into a storage building and later, it was converted into a jail.

Sarkis Balyan The Balyan family ( hy, Պալեաններ; tr, Balyan ailesi or ''Palyan ailesi'') was a prominent Armenian family in the Ottoman Empire consisting of court architects in the service of Ottoman sultans and other members of the Ottoman dyna ...

, the Ottoman-Armenian architect of Sultan

Abdulhamid II Abdülhamid or Abdul Hamid II ( ota, عبد الحميد ثانی, Abd ül-Hamid-i Sani; tr, II. Abdülhamid; 21 September 1842 10 February 1918) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 31 August 1876 to 27 April 1909, and the last sultan to ...

, designed the church. Construction started in 1892, undertaken by the

stonemason Stonemasonry or stonecraft is the creation of buildings, structures, and sculpture using stone as the primary material. It is one of the oldest activities and professions in human history. Many of the long-lasting, ancient shelters, temples, mo ...

Sarkis Taşçıyan. The church was part of a complex which also contained a school and the administrative buildings of the dioceses of the ''

kaza A kaza (, , , plural: , , ; ota, قضا, script=Arab, (; meaning 'borough') * bg, околия (; meaning 'district'); also Кааза * el, υποδιοίκησις () or (, which means 'borough' or 'municipality'); also () * lad, kaza , ...

'' of Antep. In 1915, almost all of the Armenians of

were deported to Syrian desert during the genocide. The church stood empty until the 1920s, when it was used as a prison. It remained a prison into the 1970s until it was converted into a mosque in 1986. The top half of the bell tower was demolished, the remainder converted into a single-balcony

minaret A minaret (; ar, منارة, translit=manāra, or ar, مِئْذَنة, translit=miʾḏana, links=no; tr, minare; fa, گل‌دسته, translit=goldaste) is a type of tower typically built into or adjacent to mosques. Minarets are generall ...

. The bell, which was cast in the 19th century in

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

, was taken to Gaziantep Museum.

References

Armenian churches in Turkey Churches completed in 1892 Buildings and structures in Gaziantep Religious buildings and structures converted into mosques Mosques converted from churches in Turkey Mosques in Gaziantep Mosques completed in 1980 {{Turkey-mosque-stub

See also

References