St Sarkis 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 Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

and a

Grade II* listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

building in Iverna Gardens,

Kensington Kensington is an area of London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, around west of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up by Kensingt ...

, London. It was constructed in 1922–1923 by

Calouste Gulbenkian Calouste Sarkis Gulbenkian (; ; 23 March 1869 – 20 July 1955) was an Ottoman-born British Armenian businessman and philanthropist. He played a major role in making the petroleum reserves of the Middle East available to Western development a ...

as a memorial to his parents, and the architect was Arthur Davis. It is the only church in England to have been built in the traditional Armenian style. Its design is inspired by the 13th-century freestanding

bell tower A bell tower is a tower that contains one or more bells, or that is designed to hold bells even if it has none. Such a tower commonly serves as part of a Christian church, and will contain church bells, but there are also many secular bell to ...

Haghpat Monastery Haghpat Monastery, also known as Haghpatavank (), is a medieval Armenian monastery complex in Haghpat, Armenia, built between the 10th and 13th century. Location The location of Haghpat Monastery was chosen so that it overlooks the Debed River ...

. It is the seat of the Diocese of the United Kingdom of the Armenian Apostolic Church.

History

Saint Sargis Armenian church in London-top of the entrance

The construction of the church was funded by

, an Ottoman-born Armenian oil magnate. He agreed to finance it with the precondition to dedicate it to his parents, Sarkis and Takouhi. Besides being his father's name, Sarkis is also the name of one of Armenia's most celebrated saints—

Saint Sarkis the Warrior Saint Sargis the General or Sergius Stratelates (; died 362/3) was a Cappadocian Greek general who is revered as a martyr and military saint in the Armenian Apostolic Church and Assyrian Church of the East (January 5). The name Sargis (Sarkis) is ...

. The church was designed by

Arthur Joseph Davis Arthur Joseph Davis (21 May 1878, Kensington, London – 22 July 1951, Kensington, London) was an English architect. Davis studied at the École des Beaux-Arts, Paris in the 1890s. He was the co-partner in the firm ''Mewes & Davis'', with C ...

and built by Holloway Brothers. Its construction began in February 1922 and it was consecrated on 11 January 1923. The church was expanded twice; first in 1937 a

baptistery In Church architecture, Christian architecture the baptistery or baptistry (Old French ''baptisterie''; Latin ''baptisterium''; Greek language, Greek , 'bathing-place, baptistery', from , baptízein, 'to baptize') is the separate centrally planned ...

was added to the north side along with a new entrance, and, in 1950, a

sacristy A sacristy, also known as a vestry or preparation room, is a room in Christianity, Christian churches for the keeping of vestments (such as the alb and chasuble) and other church furnishings, sacred vessels, and parish records. The sacristy is us ...

was added in the south-east side of the church.

Catholicos A catholicos (plural: catholicoi) is the head of certain churches in some Eastern Christian traditions. The title implies autocephaly and, in some cases, it is the title of the head of an autonomous church. The word comes from ancient Greek ( ...

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 ...

visited the church in 1978 and 1983.

Architecture

The church follows traditional

Armenian church architecture Armenian church architecture is the architectural style of the Armenian church buildings created since the Apostolic era of Christianity in the Armenian Highland during the 1st century. It was developed over the last 1900 years. According to profe ...

. It is modelled after the freestanding

, built in 1245. The exterior, similar to the Haghpat bell tower, has three stages/levels. The church has been described as an "exotic eastern edifice" by ''

The Economist ''The Economist'' is a British newspaper published weekly in printed magazine format and daily on Electronic publishing, digital platforms. It publishes stories on topics that include economics, business, geopolitics, technology and culture. M ...

''.''

'', Volume 216, 1965, pag
344
"...the Armenian church of St Sarkis. The church is the only one of its kind in Britain, an exotic eastern edifice, raising its unlikely head in Iverna Gardens, Kensington." It was built in

Portland stone Portland stone is a limestone geological formation (formally named the Portland Stone Formation) dating to the Tithonian age of the Late Jurassic that is quarried on the Isle of Portland in Dorset, England. The quarries are cut in beds of whi ...

and has a

Greek cross The Christian cross, with or without a figure of Jesus, Christ included, is the main religious symbol of Christianity. A cross with a figure of Christ affixed to it is termed a crucifix and the figure is often referred to as the ''corpus'' (La ...

plan. The entrance has an English inscription recording its dedication to Gulbenkian's parents "in the Armenian Era 1372". The altarpiece contains a painting of Virgin and Child with gilded relief carving of angels in the gable made by the

Bromsgrove Guild of Applied Arts The Bromsgrove Guild of Applied Arts (1898–1966) was a company of modern artists and designers associated with the Arts and Crafts Movement, but which also embraced other major design motifs. Founded by Walter Gilbert, the guild worked ...

. There are also sculptures of Gulbenkian family members inside the church.

Heritage designation

The church was listed as a

Grade II* In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

building on 16 January 1981, which classified it as a "particularly important building of more than special interest."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Sarkis Church, London Churches completed in 1923 Churches in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea 1923 establishments in the United Kingdom Grade II* listed churches in London Armenian Apostolic churches in the United Kingdom Arthur Joseph Davis buildings Kensington