Diocese of Shirak, Armenian Apostolic Church diocese in Shirak Province, Armenia

The Diocese of Shirak is an Armenian Apostolic Church jurisdiction centered in Gyumri with responsibility for around thirty active churches across northern and central parts of Shirak Province. The administrative building sits in downtown Gyumri at the intersection of Rizhkov and Varpetats streets.

The diocese was founded on September 6, 1920, when Catholicos George V issued formal documents establishing it as a separate ecclesiastical jurisdiction. This founding separated it from the previously larger church administration that had overseen the area.

The diocese publishes the monthly newspaper "Surb Yotverk" and has run the Shirak School (Shiraki Dpranots) since 1992. On the "Tsayg" television channel, its "Yeghitsi Luys" programme lets the prelate speak live with the diocese's followers.

The prelacy occupies the part of the "Lodka" building at the corner of Rizhkov and Varpetats streets, near Vartanants Square in central Gyumri. The three-storey stone building, damaged in the 1988 earthquake, was later rebuilt; the section that once housed the city's central library was assigned to the diocese. Look for the mixed-colour stonework and arched openings.

The prelacy occupies a three-storey building known as "Lodka", designed by Hovhannes Katchaznouni, Armenia's first prime minister, and built between 1930 and 1936 at the corner of former Boulevardnaya and 27th streets. Its top floor once housed the first secretaries of the Leninakan city committee, and in the early 1950s the second and third floors held the central library. Damaged in the 1988 earthquake, it was later rebuilt and the library section handed to the diocese.