Holy Saviour's Church
Gyumri's landmark church, restored after the 1988 quake
- Area Shirak
- Type Religious site
- Time needed 30m
The Church of the Holy Saviour, Surb Amenaprkich, is the landmark of Gyumri's old quarter, built between 1858 and 1873 and brought down by the earthquake of 7 December 1988. It has been rebuilt from its own numbered stones over three decades.
Open in the planner →Getting there
Gyumri is 123 km from Yerevan, about 2h15 by road, or roughly three hours on the train, which is the pleasanter option. The church stands on Vardanants Square in the centre.
What you see
A large black-tuff church modelled on Ani cathedral, with the reconstruction still legible in the stonework — newer blocks against old, and sections of the collapsed dome left in the grounds as a memorial. Yot Verk church is across the same square, and the surrounding Kumayri district has the best nineteenth-century urban architecture in Armenia.
What to pair it with
The Black Fortress above the town, Marmashen monastery 10 km north in the Akhurian valley, and Harichavank towards Artik.
When to go
Any time of year, though Gyumri sits high and is bitterly cold from December to February. The old quarter is best on foot in long summer evenings.
What is hard about it
The town carries the earthquake visibly and some visitors find it a sombre place; 25,000 people died in the region and parts of Gyumri were still in temporary housing decades later. The church interior has been a building site on and off for years.
Common questions
What happened to Holy Saviour's Church in Gyumri?
The 1988 Spitak earthquake destroyed it. The stones were numbered and it has been reassembled over the following thirty years.
How do you get from Yerevan to Gyumri?
2h15 by road, or about three hours by train from Yerevan station.
What else is there to see in Gyumri?
The Kumayri old quarter, Yot Verk church, the Black Fortress and the Dzitoghtsyan museum of local life.
Nearby
- Marmashen Monastery10th-century monastery in the Akhurian valley
- Harichavank7th-century monastery near Artik
- Yot Verk Church19th-century church on Vardanants Square
- Black FortressRound 19th-century Russian fort above Gyumri
- Yereruyk Basilica5th-century basilica near the Turkish border
- Lake ArpiHighland lake and national park famed for birdlife
More of the same kind
- Blue Mosque18th-century Persian mosque with a tiled courtyard
- St Gregory the Illuminator CathedralLargest cathedral in Armenia, consecrated in 2001
- Katoghike ChurchTiny 13th-century chapel, the oldest in central Yerevan
- Zoravor Church17th-century church in a quiet courtyard