Armenian Church, Baku
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Saint Gregory the Illuminator Church,, ''Bak’vi Surb Grigor Lusavorich yekeghetsi''; az, Müqəddəs Maarifləndirici Qriqori Kilsəsi commonly referred to as the Armenian Church of Baku ( hy, Բաքվի հայկական եկեղեցի, ''Bak’vi haykakan yekeghetsi''; az, Bakı erməni kilsəsi), is a former
Armenian Apostolic , native_name_lang = hy , icon = Armenian Apostolic Church logo.svg , icon_width = 100px , icon_alt = , image = Էջմիածնի_Մայր_Տաճար.jpg , imagewidth = 250px , a ...
church near Fountains Square in central
Baku Baku (, ; az, Bakı ) is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. Baku is located below sea level, which makes it the lowest lying national capital in the world a ...
,
Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...
. Completed in 1869 it was one of the two Armenian churches in Baku to survive the Soviet anti-religious campaign and the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is an ethnic and territorial conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh, inhabited mostly by ethnic Armenians, and seven surrounding districts, inhabited mostly by Azerbaij ...
and the 1990 pogrom and expulsion of Baku Armenians when it was looted. It is now the only standing Armenian monument in Baku.


Early history

The church was built between 1863 and 1869 by the design of Karl Hippius, a
Baltic German Baltic Germans (german: Deutsch-Balten or , later ) were ethnic German inhabitants of the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea, in what today are Estonia and Latvia. Since their coerced resettlement in 1939, Baltic Germans have markedly declined ...
architect. The
cornerstone The cornerstone (or foundation stone or setting stone) is the first stone set in the construction of a masonry foundation. All other stones will be set in reference to this stone, thus determining the position of the entire structure. Over time ...
was consecrated by ''
vardapet A vardapet or vartabed ( hy, վարդապետ, in Western Armenian or aɾda'pεtin Eastern Armenian) is a highly educated archimandrite in the Armenian Apostolic Church and the Armenian Catholic Church traditions who holds a Doctorate in Theol ...
'' Daniel Shahnazariants, the bishop of the diocese of
Shamakhi Shamakhi ( az, Şamaxı, ) is a city in Azerbaijan and the administrative centre of the Shamakhi District. The city's estimated population was 31,704. It is famous for its traditional dancers, the Shamakhi Dancers, and also for perhaps giving it ...
, in June 1863. The construction was funded by Javad Melikiants (Melikov), a Baku-based Armenian philanthropist and founder of the city's first
paraffin Paraffin may refer to: Substances * Paraffin wax, a white or colorless soft solid that is used as a lubricant and for other applications * Liquid paraffin (drug), a very highly refined mineral oil used in cosmetics and for medical purposes * Alkane ...
plant. The church was consecrated on May 4, 1869, by archbishop Andreas Andreasian. The
Armenian Philanthropic Society of Baku The Armenian Philanthropic Society of Baku or the Mardasirakan was a philanthropic organization built and operated by the Armenian community of Baku. It was established in 1863–1864 and became the first philanthropic organization in the Caucas ...
founded a girls' school in 1866 and a library in 1870 next to the church. In 1903 the Russian government's decision to confiscate the properties of the Armenian church were widely opposed by Armenians. The church was the site of a clash between Russian
Cossack The Cossacks , es, cosaco , et, Kasakad, cazacii , fi, Kasakat, cazacii , french: cosaques , hu, kozákok, cazacii , it, cosacchi , orv, коза́ки, pl, Kozacy , pt, cossacos , ro, cazaci , russian: казаки́ or ...
soldiers and Armenian nationalist activists on September 2, 1903. A group of armed activists affiliated with the
Armenian Revolutionary Federation The Armenian Revolutionary Federation ( hy, Հայ Յեղափոխական Դաշնակցութիւն, ՀՅԴ ( classical spelling), abbr. ARF or ARF-D) also known as Dashnaktsutyun (collectively referred to as Dashnaks for short), is an Armenian ...
(Dashnaks), led by
Nikol Duman Nikol Duman ( hy, Նիկոլ Դուման), born Nikoghayos Ter-Hovhannisyan ( hy, Նիկողայոս Տեր-Հովհաննիսյան; 12 January 1867 – 23 September 1914), was an Armenian fedayee from Karabakh. Early life Nikoghayos Ter-Hov ...
defended the church. The confrontation turned violent by night and resulted in 11 deaths and 45 injuries on the Armenian side. On September 15, 1918, the church was attacked and looted by the invading Ottoman forces in the aftermath of the
Battle of Baku The Battle of Baku ( az, Bakı döyüşü, tr, Bakü Muharebesi, russian: Битва за Баку) was a battle in World War I that took place between August–September 1918 between the Ottoman– Azerbaijani coalition forces led by Nuri Pas ...
. On June 11, 1919, Ottoman-Azerbaijani forces sieged the church and conducted a search. After not finding any arms inside, the soldiers shot at the walls of the church. In 1920 it became the cathedral of the Armenian Apostolic Diocese of Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan. It survived through the Soviet state atheist policies of the 1920s and 1930s when all but two Armenian churches in Baku were destroyed. The church was reopened in 1945 and became the seat of the diocese of Azerbaijan. In the 1950s, the church underwest restoration and by 1956 five priests and ministers served at the cathedral. It had a choir, which was composed of 25 people in 1970, when they visited
Etchmiadzin Vagharshapat ( hy, Վաղարշապատ ) is the 4th-largest city in Armenia and the most populous municipal community of Armavir Province, located about west of the capital Yerevan, and north of the closed Turkish-Armenian border. It is comm ...
.


1990 pogrom and aftermath

The large Armenian population of Baku—around 200,000 in the mid-1980s—was targeted in a January 1990 pogrom during the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is an ethnic and territorial conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh, inhabited mostly by ethnic Armenians, and seven surrounding districts, inhabited mostly by Azerbaij ...
. The city's Armenian population was forced to flee. Serious damage to the church was caused by an arson attack on December 25, 1989, but it remained standing.
Vazgen I Vazgen I also Vazken I of Bucharest, (), born Levon Garabed Baljian ( hy, Լևոն Կարապետ Աբրահամի Պալճյան; September 20, 1908 – August 18, 1994) was the Catholicos of All Armenians between 1955 and 1994, for a total of 39 ...
, head of the Armenian Church, wrote to Yuri Khristoradnov, the chairman of the Soviet Council for Religious Affairs, in January 1990 that "extremist Azeri nationalists set fire to the Armenian Church in Baku on 25 December
989 Year 989 (Roman numerals, CMLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * Emperor Basil II uses his contingent of 6,000 Varangians to he ...
destroying valuable ecclesiastical books, holy paintings, and all ecclesiastical clothing."
Bill Keller Bill Keller (born January 18, 1949) is an American journalist. He was the founding editor-in-chief of ''The Marshall Project'', a nonprofit that reports on criminal justice in the United States. Previously, he was a columnist for ''The New Yor ...
wrote in ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' in February 1990 that the church "whose congregation has been depleted over the past two years by an emigration based on fear, is now a charred ruin. A neighbor said firefighters and the police watched without intervening as vandals destroyed the building at the beginning of the year."
Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human r ...
wrote in 1995: "Armenians have vanished from the streets of Baku ..the Armenian church in Baku stand empty."


Current state

An August 2, 2001 decree of the cabinet of Azerbaijan listed the church as an historical and cultural monument of national importance.
Thomas de Waal Thomas Patrick Lowndes de Waal (born 1966) is a British journalist and writer on the Caucasus. He is a senior fellow at Carnegie Europe. He is best known for his 2003 book '' Black Garden: Armenia and Azerbaijan Through Peace and War''. Lif ...
wrote in his 2003 book ''
Black Garden ''Black Garden: Armenia and Azerbaijan Through Peace and War'' is a 2003 book by Thomas de Waal, based on a study of Armenia and Azerbaijan, two former Soviet republics, during the First Nagorno-Karabakh War. It consists of a history of the Nag ...
'' that the church "remains a gutted shell eleven years after it was burned in December 1989; the cross has been removed from the belfry, now used as a pool hall." He also wrote that it remains the only visible Armenian monument in Baku. Jason Thomson wrote in 2005 that it was "transformed into a billiard hall and tea house." The library of the church consisting of 5,000 books and manuscripts has been preserved. In 2002 the church was transferred to the Presidential Library, which is located nearby, and now houses its archive. In 2006 Azerbaijani Minister of Culture
Abulfas Garayev Abulfas Mursal oglu Garayev ( az, Əbülfəs Mürsəl oğlu Qarayev; born 13 November 1956) is an Azerbaijani politician, who served as the Minister of Culture of Azerbaijan. Early life and educational background Garayev was born on November 1 ...
stated that converting the church into a library is purposeful because there are not many Armenian Christians in Azerbaijan. Emil Sanamyan, fellow at the USC Institute of Armenian Studies, argues that calling it a "presidential book depository" is more accurate as "library implies public access which there isn't in this case." According to Samir Huseynov it is open to PhD students and other researchers who can get access. The Azerbaijani authorities have presented the church as proof of their tolerance of minorities, especially the Armenians. In a 2021 interview, Azerbaijani president
Ilham Aliyev Ilham Heydar oghlu Aliyev ( az, İlham Heydər oğlu Əliyev, ; born 24 December 1961) is the fourth president of Azerbaijan, serving in the post since 31 October 2003. The son and second child of the former Azerbaijani leader Heydar Aliyev, ...
claimed the church was repaired. "It is in the center of the city, and if anyone goes there, they will see that there are about 5,000 Armenian books there," he told
CNN Türk CNN Türk is a Turkish pay television news channel, launched on 11 October 1999 as the localised variant of American channel CNN. It broadcasts exclusively for Turkey and it is owned by Warner Bros. Discovery and Demirören Group. Its headquarte ...
.


Visits by Armenians

In April 2010 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 hea ...
, the head of the Armenian Apostolic Church, visited the church and prayed and sang medieval hymns there. He expressed hope that the church will eventually "reopen its doors to believers." It was the first time since 1990 that prayer was heard at the church. In April 2012 the Armenian delegation participating at a
Euronest Parliamentary Assembly The Euronest Parliamentary Assembly is the inter-parliamentary forum in which members of the European Parliament and the national parliaments of Ukraine, Moldova, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia participate and forge closer political and economic ...
meeting in Baku visited the church. In their visit in September 2017 the Armenian delegates found the church and its grounds closed.


Gallery

File:Eglise armenienne bacou.jpg, A Tsarist (pre-1917) period photo of Kolyubakinskaya Square ("Parapet") File:Крещение.jpg, Theophany (Epiphany) Feast procession on January 6, 1904, on Kolyubakinskaya Sq. The church is in the background. File:Армянская церковь в Баку. Охраняется государством. - panoramio.jpg, The church in 2004 File:Armenian church in Baku 2a.jpg, The church in 2013


See also

* Church of the Holy Virgin, a small Armenian church in Baku's Old City. Built in the 1700s and destroyed in 1992.


References

;notes ;references


Bibliography

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Gregory the Illuminator's Church, Baku Religious organizations established in 1887 Armenian Apostolic churches Armenian churches in Azerbaijan Former churches Former religious buildings and structures in Azerbaijan Oriental Orthodox congregations established in the 19th century Religious organizations disestablished in 1989 19th-century Oriental Orthodox church buildings Churches in Baku 1869 establishments in the Russian Empire 1989 disestablishments in Azerbaijan Churches completed in 1869 Karl Hippius buildings and structures Baku Governorate