The St. Mary Armenian Church () is an

Armenian Apostolic The Armenian Apostolic Church () is the autocephalous national church of Armenia. Part of Oriental Orthodoxy, it is one of the most ancient Christian churches. The Armenian Apostolic Church, like the Armenian Catholic Church, belongs to the Arme ...

church in

Brăila Brăila (, also , ) is a city in Muntenia, eastern Romania, a port on the Danube and the capital of Brăila County. The Sud-Est (development region), ''Sud-Est'' Regional Development Agency is located in Brăila. According to the 2021 Romanian ...

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

. It was first established by the

Armenian 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 around the ...

community of Brăila in 1828 and was made of green wood planks. However, the old church burned down in 1843 and was demolished. Efforts to reconstruct the church were started on 1 May 1868 and completed on 4 July 1872. The church fell into disrepair during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

as a result of the occupation of Romania, including Brăila, by the

Central Powers The Central Powers, also known as the Central Empires,; ; , ; were one of the two main coalitions that fought in World War I (1914–1918). It consisted of the German Empire, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Bulga ...

which provoked the fleeing of many Armenians from the city. In 1934,

industrialist A business magnate, also known as an industrialist or tycoon, is a person who is a powerful entrepreneur and investor who controls, through personal enterprise ownership or a dominant shareholding position, a firm or industry whose goods or ser ...

Grigore Berziveanu undertook renovation works on the church. The last Armenian priest of Brăila, Garibian, died in 1962, and the Armenian church has ever since only held services with the assistance of Armenian priests from other cities throughout Romania. Today, the Armenian Church of Brăila is used as a gathering point by the small Armenian community of the city, composed of some fourteen families as of 2005.

References

Religious buildings and structures in Brăila

Churches completed in 1872 {{ArmenianApostolic-church-stub