KATOGHIKE CHURCH

The oldest church open for worship in Yerevan is also the smallest, with the dimensions of a chapel. Formerly hidden in a dark courtyard of unfortunate Soviet "Stalinska" apartment buildings on Abovian Street (corner of Sayat Nova Street), which the Soviet town planners had shamelessly surrounded, it has recently been restored to a more dignified setting, restoring the larger religious buildings of which it was a part. The church of Sainte-Mère-de-Dieu (Sourp Asdvadzadzine) is not dated precisely, but it is known to predate 1264, the date of the oldest inscription engraved on the façade. Gathered around its polygonal dome with an "umbrella" or "parasol" roof, it was completed in the 17th century by a three-nave basilica, known as the katoghike, which served as the apse. The small church clad in orange tufa will inherit its name when the basilica was destroyed in 1937, at the height of Stalinist atheism, and will continue to be so called even when the adjoining basilica is rebuilt according to the original plans in the 2000s. The complex is not lacking in elegance, especially since the square and the surrounding area have been beautifully laid out in such a way as to enhance it and give the place back its spiritual and monumental vocation, freed from some of the buildings that were spoiling the view. The faithful are very attached to this church where they follow the services and where they willingly stop to recite a prayer or light a candle.