1679 Earthquake and Saint John Baptist Church Construction
During the 17th century, particularly in 1679 an earthquake occurred (back then Armenia was part of the Persian Empire). With the magnitude of 7.0 the earthquake destroyed and ruined a number of important buildings in Yerevan. Among those buildings were Yerevan Fortress, which was completely destroyed, Surb Zoravor Church of Yerevan, Saint Poghos Church, Saint Sarkis Church and Saint Katoghike Church.
Before the earthquake on the place where now the Saint Baptist church stands there used to be a medieval church that was completely destroyed. In 1710, Melik Aghamal funded the construction of a new church right in the same place. Melik Aghamal came from the house of the Melik-Aghamalyan family who had the sole right to govern the Erivan Khanate established by Safavid Persia in the early 17th century with the authorization of the shah. Melik Aghamal was the first representative of the family to hold the title of “melik of Erevan.”
Like the rest of the medieval churches such as St. Poghos, St. Zoravor and St. Katoghike, this church as well is a three-nave basilica church. It has a prayer hall, the main altar on the eastern side with vestries attached to it.
Church Reconstruction
The church entered the 20th century with a very unattractive look and hopeless state. It caused worry among architects. In particular, architect Rafael Israelyan was most concerned about that and for this reason in 1979 he came up with a reconstruction plan. The plan was presented to the Catholicos of All Armenians Vazgen I who approved of it. Nevertheless, that same year the renowned architect passed away, and it seemed as if people got oblivious of the plan until 10 years later the architect’s son, architect Areg Israelyan breathed a new life into all that. He managed to turn the plan into a technical project, which was approved and allowed to be carried out.
The work project was prepared by architect Baghdasar Arzumanyan and designing engineer Avetik Tekevejian. The church was thoroughly reconstructed. Reconstructed Saint Baptist John church came with the following improvements – the dome and the walls were covered with tufa stone, on the western side an additional gallery for the choir was built, the floor was paved with marble and the main altar wall was ornamented. The interior was completely renovated. Also the bell tower was finally completed.
In 2000, an educational, scientific and cultural center named after Hovhannes Kozern, a 9th century renowned scientist more known as Hovhannes Vardapet, was built on the site. The center teaches modern and ancient Armenian languages (Grabar), foreign languages like English, French and German, history of Armenia and the Armenian Apostolic Church. Computer courses are organized as well.
Saint John Baptist Church is very well known among those Armenians who were given the name “John” (Հովհաննէս). These people usually choose exactly this church for every event of their life, be it a need for a prayer or a wedding ceremony. But it doesn’t mean the church is not popular with the rest. The church has its regular visitors, and at the same time attracts more new people with its beautiful and correctly chosen location and of course the reconstructed and modern look.
Location
Saint John the Baptist Church is located in the old area of Kond, Yerevan, Armenia.
