ST JAMES CHURCH WAS OPENED IN STEPANAKERT
Laura Grigorian
Azat Artsakh Daily, Republic of Nagorno Karabakh [NKR]
10 May 07
On May 6 St. James Church was consecrated after the construction that
lasted for a year and a half. It is an important event in the life of
the people of Artsakh because the capital did not have a church. The
primate of the Artsakh Diocese Archbishop Parghev Martirosian says
there was a church in Stepanakert in the late 19th century, which
was consecrated in the early 20th century.
It was St. George Church with St. George School. In 1936 the church
was demolished, and the theater was built in its place. The first
liturgy in the new church was dedicated to the army. The president
of NKR, high-ranking government officials, the commissioned staff
was present. The sponsor of the church Nerses Yepremian together
with his son and daughter had arrived from California. "The date
of the consecration of the church is symbolic. 15 years ago on this
day when our army was going to liberate Shushi, the Cross appeared
in the sky of Artsakh, and our soldiers bore the cross on them,"
said Archbishop Martirosian.