Saint John the Baptist Church, Armenian Apostolic church in Kond, Yerevan, Armenia
Saint John the Baptist Church is an Armenian Apostolic building with three interior aisles and a main altar positioned on the eastern end. The structure features an attached bell tower and interior flooring in marble, while exterior walls are covered in locally quarried tuff stone.
A medieval church founded in 670 stood on this site until an earthquake in 1679 destroyed it. The present church was built in 1710 with funds from the wealthy Yerevan resident Melik Aghamal. In 1973 architect Rafael Israelyan presented a reconstruction project to Catholicos Vazgen I, but he died that year; a decade later his son Areg carried it out with Baghdasar Arzoumanian and Avetik Teknejyan, and in the 1980s Mikayel Hovhannissian directed the rebuilding.
This place serves as a center for Armenian Apostolic worship and community gatherings in the neighborhood. Local residents use it as a spiritual focal point where religious traditions are actively practiced and celebrated.
The church stands on the Kond height in the old Kond quarter, within the Kentron District. It is an active parish church, so visitors should dress modestly and avoid entering during services. The building was included in Yerevan's state list of immovable monuments in 2004.
In 2016, on the feast of John the Baptist, a reliquary containing the saint's right hand was brought to the church from the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, where it is kept. The church has been listed as a state monument of Yerevan since 7 October 2004.
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