16th-century St. Giragos Armenian church in Turkey’s southeastern Diyarbakir (historic Tigranakert) province heavily damaged in 2015 officially reopened on Saturday after restoration.

The Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople, Archbishop Sahak Mashalyan, president over the first Sunday mass at the church today.

The Patriarch called the opening of the church a lifeline for Diyarbakır’s Christian population, which has been on the decline.