Demolition of the Church of St. Poghos-Petros in Yerevan in 1939

The Church of St. Poghos-Petros was one of those famous churches which was described by European travelers in great detail. The church had a restrained architecture and belonged to the type of dome-less three-nave basilicas which were common in the 5th-6th centuries.

Despite the fact that the date of construction of the church is the 5th century, even more ancient buildings were found during its demolition. In particular, the foundations of a magnificent pagan temple were unearthed.

That is, at the same spot, at least since the 3rd century (because Armenia adopted Christianity in 301 AD), a pagan temple had already existed. Moreover, it was rebuilt into a Christian building in the 5th century.

It is known that in the 7th and 12th centuries, the church was repaired, but a powerful earthquake in 1679 destroyed it like many other buildings. Subsequently, the church was restored. In the 19th century, it was completely renovated.

At the beginning of the 1930s, the Saint Poghos-Petros church located in the very heart of Yerevan, despite the protest wave raised by the Armenian intelligentsia, was barbarically destroyed by the Bolshevik government. The “Moscow” cinema complex was built in its place, which stands up to this day.

Ruben Shukhyan