Armenian Virgin Mary's Dormition Church in Lviv

Being an ancient city, it’s no wonder that Lviv, one of the oldest cities of Ukraine as well as Europe, is home to some of the most breathtaking middle aged architecture. When it comes to Armenian Virgin Mary's Dormition church, situated in the Virmenska Street in Lviv, Ukraine, is one of the most spectacular churches in Lviv. It is the most visited tourist spot of the city. The chief of this famous Armenian Church is Eminence Archbishop Gregory Buniatian, Catholicos of the Armenian Apostolic Church. When we speak about Armenian Virgin Mary's Dormition church, was rechristened to the present name from Armenian Apostle church on the year 2001. You will find an Armenian cemetery with some old grave monuments (XVI-XVII) as well as the wooden chapel “Calvary” (XVIII) within the courtyard of the church.

As the history goes, the Armenian community stating in Lviv had invited Charles Aznavour, the famous French singer to Lviv to perform in a beneficiary concert to raise funds needed to reconstruct the fourteenth-century Armenian Virgin Mary's Dormition Church.

Thanks to the communist ideology of the communists’ era, the Soviets had shut down the Armenian Church in Lviv, Ukraine. In fact, the Soviet regime did not leave a single religious institution open and functional in Ukraine like the rest of the erstwhile Soviet Union after the nineteen thirties. All the religious structures, even those which are the most sacred and ancient were defiled and pulled down. The catholic churches met with the same fate though. The Soviets used these structures as warehouses for dumping and storing cements. The Eparchy of the Armenian Apostolic Church was structured and reinstated once again in the year 1993. On 28 November, 1991 the diocese of Armenian Apostolic Church was once again officially restored and registered in Ukraine, and at present there are Apostolic Church communities active in Lviv, Kyiv, Odessa, Kharkiv, Donetsk, Dnipropetrovsk and in Crimea.

Armenian Virgin Mary's Dormition Church was built in 1356-63 by an Italian artist Dorchi. The tower of the cathedral was destroyed by a devastating fire during the 1527 Great Fire of Lviv. The new tower that was constructed on the four pillars was built fifty years later by Andrew from Kaffa.

The year 1908 saw a thorough conservation of the famous mediaeval paintings by the renowned Polish artists. The mosaic of the beautiful dome was designed by Jozef Mehoffer while the interior was decorated and designed by Witold Minkiewicz. However, the most spectacular features of the church are painted by Jan Henryk Rosen.