Armenian Cathedral of Lviv

The Armenian Cathedral of the Assumption of Mary (Armenian: Հայկական տաճար, Ukrainian: Вірменський собор, Polish: Katedra ormiańska) in Lviv, Ukraine is located in the city's Old Town, north of the market square.

A small Armenian church was built in the years 1363–1370, founded by an Armenian merchant from Caffa and established as the mother church of an eparchy. It is said to have been modeled after the Cathedral of Ani in the ancient Armenian capital of Ani. In 1437 the cathedral was surrounded with an arcade gallery, today only the southern one is preserved and the northern has been rebuilt into a sacristy. After the church was damaged in a city fire in 1527 a new stone belfry was erected in 1571. In 1630 the main nave was extended, further rebuilt in 1723. Since 17th century the cathedral belonged to Armenian Catholic eparchy of Lviv, as union with Roman Catholic Church was introduced by bishop Mikołaj (Nicolas) Torosowicz. The Cathedral owes most of its present day look to a remodeling carried out in the years 1908-1927.

Just north of the Cathedral lays a small convent of Armenian Benedictines and to the south, adjoining the bell tower, the palace of the Armenian Archbishops, both built in the late 17th century.

The present day interior is largely the work of Jan Henryk Rosen and Józef Mehoffer. The cathedral hold two wonder working icons of St. Gregory the Illuminator and the Mother of God, brought in the 17th century from Yazlovets.

During soviet rule the Cathedral was closed and its building was used for storing plundered sacral art. The Armenian Catholic Eparchy of Lviv remains vacant since 1938 and its last administrator, rev. Dionizy Kajetanowicz died in Soviet gulag in 1954. After the collapse of the Soviet Union a handful of Armenian Catholic families attempted to reestablish the parish. As a result of their insufficient numbers this proved impossible. Shortly before the visit of Pope John Paul II, the local Ukrainian authorities passed the Cathedral to the Armenian Apostolic Church under the condition both the Armenian Catholic and Armenian Apostolic communites could use it. An Armenian Apostolic eparchy was established in Lviv in 1997.

The oldest preserved part of the Cathedral, with Renaissance arcades		The interior		Belltower and bishops palace

See also

• Armenians in Ukraine
• Armenians in Poland