History

The Armenian Protestant Church of Ourfa

This Armenian Protestant Church building was located at one tip of the Tilfandir District, adjacent to the American Mission.

The Armenian Protestant Church was founded in 1880 and was designed by the architect Kel Krikor. Pastor Hagop Abouhayatian played a large role in ensuring the construction of this church.

He was a native of Ourfa, and in 1877 he traveled to Germany where he raised funds to support the construction of the church.

During those days of pogroms and persecution, the Armenian Protestant Church was spared, most probably thanks to the efforts of the American mission.

During the years of the Genocide, the Turkish authorities converted the church into a storehouse for a local orphanage.

by Houshamadyan from Mano Chil

Vigen Avetisyan

Recent Posts

Hayravank Monastery: The “Father Monastery” of Lake Sevan and the Legend of the Doves

On a rocky promontory above the southwestern shore of Lake Sevan, at an elevation of…

1 day ago

Scythian Ceremonial Swords and the Art of the Van Kingdom (Urartu)

Among the most arresting objects to survive from the Early Iron Age Near East are…

4 days ago

Abandoned by an Ally: The French Armenian Legion in Cilicia and the Road to the Smyrna Catastrophe

How a promise made to genocide survivors was traded away for peace with Ankara —…

1 week ago

The Vilgort Cup: A Silver Masterpiece of Cilician Armenia (c. 1150–1159 A.D.)

A Fragment That Traveled Across Continents The gilt-silver medallion shown above — two richly dressed…

1 week ago

Hannibal and Artaxias the Great: The Carthaginian General Who Helped Build the “Armenian Carthage”

Few episodes in ancient Armenian history capture the imagination quite like the tradition that Hannibal…

2 weeks ago

The Priestess of the Kingdom of Van: A 9th-Century BC Bronze Figurine in the British Museum

Five angles of one small bronze figure — and what emerges is not an abstract…

3 weeks ago