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“Saint Mary” Armenian Church was rebuilt in 1803, after the great earthquake which hit Iași.
A tomb stone situated in the yard certifies the construction of the first Armenian Church in 1395, right before the document certification of Iași in 1408, but the dating is still unclear. It is said that Saint Sava church itself, situated nearby, would have been an Armenian temple since 1393, but it was taken by force by the leaders of the time, and the Armenians would have been given another building place, nearby.
The church is located in the centre of Iași, in the former Armenian Quarter. In this area, until the 17th century, important communities of Armenians, arrived after the occupation and destruction of Armenian cities by Tatars and Persians, have settled. The area of the current Costache Negri Street, known as “Old Bridge” in old times, was animated in the past by Armenian and Greek tradesmen.
The first Armenian refugees arrived in Moldavia in 1064. Until the 19th century a second Armenian church existed in the same area, which was destroyed by a fire. During the seven centuries of existence, “Saint Mary” Church suffered numerous changes. Throughout the past centuries, the most important repairs were made in 1732, in 1803 (when it was rebuilt from the ground), in 1929-1933, and in 1946, after the Soviet bombings. The 1997 earthquake had deeply damaged this edifice, especially the two towers which risked of collapsing. Thus, the church lost a series of the initial Armenian specific elements. The last important restoration works were made in 2005-2008 with funds from the Romanian Government and the church was sanctified again in 2008 by Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch of all Armenians.
The current church is made of stone and bricks, in the shape of a clover, with two towers. Inside it is divided into an altar, nave, pronaos and two porches. On the west wall, of the pronaos there is a balcony (steel-lattice mast) for the choir, leaning on eight-cylinder brick columns.
In the church’s yard, there is a building in which the Armenian Athenaeum functioned (today the Parish House of the Armenian church), built in 1932, as well as 55 tomb stones. Currently, in this church there are celebrated religious services only on the last Sunday of each month, by the vicar priest from Suceava, Torkom Mandalian.
In its beginnings, the Armenian community in Romania numbered, in its glory times, a few hundred thousand members. Today, in all Romania, there aren’t more than 6000-8000 Armenian families and in Iași there are about 200 families, the majority mixed ones.
Armenians from Iași & Moldavia
The setting of Armenians in the Moldavia area begins in the 9th century after the Tatar and Persian invasions in Armenia. “Saint Mary” Church in Botoșani, the oldest one in Europe (1350) and the church with the same patron saint in Iași (1395) were built. In Suceava, the “Holly Cross” Church (16th century) appeared, and in Bulai village, near Suceava, the Hagigadar Monastery (1513) was built. In Focșani there is “St. George” Armenian Church. The Armenian confession is monophysite, meaning that it recognizes only Christ’s divine nature. Armenians were excellent tradesmen and skilled artisans and established themselves mainly in cities and fairs. Among the Armenian personalities of Iași, more important are Ion Vodă the Brave, called “The Terrible”, Voivode of Moldavia between 1572-1574 and Spiru Haret (1851-1912), the organiser of Romanian modern education.
8. Église Bărboi