For the first time in 106 years, people of Christian faith have been able to attend a religious service in the Armenian Trinity Church in Malatya. The church had been closed for community use since the genocide of 1915.
For the first time in over a century, people of the Christian faith were able to attend a religious service this Sunday at the Armenian Church of Surp Yerrortutyun (Holy Trinity) in Malatya. The liturgy was presided by the Sahak Mashalyan, the Armenian Patriarch in Turkey.
The homily was delivered in Armenian and Turkish. About 150 participants came from different cities. Among them were members of the Syriac community.
Sahak Mashalyan and Grigoriyos Melki Urek, the Metropolitan Bishop of Adıyaman and surrounding provinces and the Deputy Patriarch, as well as the mayor and governor of Malatya, attended the opening ceremony.
Restored since 2013
Built in the second half of the 18th century in what is now Yeşilyurt) district, the house of worship, whose Turkish name is "Üç Horan Ermeni Kilisesi," had been closed for congregational use since the 1915 Young Turk genocide of Armenians and other Christian communities and subsequently fell into ruin. It was not until 2013 that restoration work began, sponsored by the Malatya-based HAY-DER Association.
With the reopening, however, the building will be used not only for acts of worship and ceremonies, but also as a cultural center. More precisely, as the "Taşhoran Center for Art and Culture". The official reopening ceremony of the church took place on August 26.
