PLACES OF WORSHIP

The Gethsemane Chapel was one of the prominent churches in Yerevan, on the site of which the building of the National Opera and Ballet Theater was built. 17th century

The Gethsemane Chapel was located in the center of the largest district of Yerevan, Shahar. The chapel was demolished to build the building of the National Opera and Ballet Theater named after A. Spendiaryan. Alexander Tamanyan had decided to rebuild the chapel in another place, but due to the loss of stones, the project was not implemented.

The old Yerevan cemetery was spread around the chapel. It is believed that on the site of the chapel there was a small, single-domed church similar to the Saint Katoghike Church (Holy Mother of God), built in the 11th-13th centuries. It was destroyed by a devastating earthquake in 1679. A chapel was built on the same site at the end of the 17th century, which remained standing until the 1920s.

The chapel was single-nave, vaulted, small and unadorned. On the eastern side of the prayer hall was located a semicircular altar without vestries. The inscriptions above the khachkars carved into the walls date back to the late 17th century, which is considered the time when the chapel was built. The chapel was renovated in 1901, the roof was covered with tin with the donation of the mayors of Yerevan, Isahak and Hovhannes Melik-Aghamalyans.