Cathedral of the Holy Mother of God, Armenian cathedral in Gyumri, Armenia.
The Cathedral of the Holy Mother of God is a dark grey stone church on the northern side of Vartanants Square. Its rectangular exterior conceals a cruciform, domed interior; a large central dome with a conical roof rises above a drum of arched windows, with two smaller domed belfries at the ends. A belfry stands over the west entrance.
A wooden chapel built by the Kamsarakan family once stood on this site, housing the icon of the Virgin with Seven Wounds. The present church was built between 1873 and 1884 (the Armenian source gives 1874–1886). It stayed open throughout the Soviet period, when only one other church in Armenia, Etchmiadzin Cathedral, also remained active.
Locals call it Yot Verk, "Seven Wounds", after a painting of the Virgin with seven wounds brought here from the Church of the Holy Sign; the icon is attributed to the Evangelist Luke. The cathedral is the seat of the Diocese of Shirak. Its altar carries an iconostasis, unusual for an Armenian church, probably added during the Russo-Turkish war.
Visitors can observe the remains of the original two minor domes preserved in the church yard, which were damaged during the 1988 earthquake in Gyumri.
The cathedral functioned simultaneously for three different Christian denominations - Armenian Apostolic, Armenian Catholic, and Russian Orthodox - in an extraordinary religious arrangement during certain historical periods.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 92,787 contributors worldwide.
