St. Vartan Cathedral
Encyclopedia
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
is the first cathedral
Cathedral
A cathedral is a Christian church that contains the seat of a bishop...
of the Armenian Apostolic Church
Armenian Apostolic Church
The Armenian Apostolic Church is the world's oldest National Church, is part of Oriental Orthodoxy, and is one of the most ancient Christian communities. Armenia was the first country to adopt Christianity as its official religion in 301 AD, in establishing this church...
to be constructed in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
. It is located in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
on the corner of Second Avenue and Thirty-forth street
34th Street (Manhattan)
34th Street is a major cross-town street in the New York City borough of Manhattan, connecting the Lincoln Tunnel and Queens-Midtown Tunnel. Like many of New York City's major crosstown streets, it has its own bus routes and four subway stops serving the trains at Eighth Avenue, the trains at...
and was built to resemble the St. Hripsime Church
St. Hripsime Church, Echmiadzin
Saint Hripsimé Church is one of the oldest surviving churches in Armenia. The church was erected by Catholicos Komitas atop the original mausoleum built by Catholicos Sahak the Great in the year 395 AD that contained the remains of the martyred Saint Hripsimé to whom the church was dedicated. The...
in Echmiadzin
Echmiadzin
Mother Cathedral of Holy Etchmiadzin is a 4th century Armenian church in the town of Ejmiatsin, Armenia. It is also the central cathedral of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin of the Armenian Apostolic Church....
. St. Vartan's was consecrated on April 28, 1968 by His Holiness Vazgen I
Vazgen I
His Holiness Vazgen I was the Catholicos of the Armenian Apostolic Church between 1955 and 1994, in one of the longest reigns of the Armenian Catholicoi. A native of Romania, he began his career as a philosopher, before becoming a Doctor of Theology and a member of the local Armenian clergy...
, Catholicos of Armenia and of All Armenians.
Architecture
The New York architectural firm Steinman, Cain & White, successor firm to McKim, Mead and White,) with Edward Utudjian of Paris as a consultant designed the Cathedral.The building includes two unique features distinct to Armenian architecture
Armenian architecture
Armenian architecture is an architectural style developed over the last 4,500 years of human habitation in the Armenian Highland and used principally by the Armenian people.- Common characteristics of Armenian architecture:...
, the use of double-intersecting arches and a pyramidal dome soaring 120 feet above street level.
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
; the Holy Spirit
Holy Spirit
Holy Spirit is a term introduced in English translations of the Hebrew Bible, but understood differently in the main Abrahamic religions.While the general concept of a "Spirit" that permeates the cosmos has been used in various religions Holy Spirit is a term introduced in English translations of...
represented by a dove; the Greek letters
Greek alphabet
The Greek alphabet is the script that has been used to write the Greek language since at least 730 BC . The alphabet in its classical and modern form consists of 24 letters ordered in sequence from alpha to omega...
alpha and omega
Alpha and Omega
The term Alpha and Omega comes from the phrase "I am the alpha and the omega" , an appellation of Jesus in the Book of Revelation ....
superimposed on the scriptures; wheat and grapes representing the Eucharist
Eucharist
The Eucharist , also called Holy Communion, the Sacrament of the Altar, the Blessed Sacrament, the Lord's Supper, and other names, is a Christian sacrament or ordinance...
; the Phoenix
Phoenix (mythology)
The phoenix or phenix is a mythical sacred firebird that can be found in the mythologies of the Arabian, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Egyptians, Chinese, Indian and Phoenicians....
symbolizing resurrection etc. A series of high, narrow, stained-glass windows are set into the main walls of the cathedral below the dome depicting scenes in the life of Christ and early Christianity in Armenia. The patron saint
Patron saint
A patron saint is a saint who is regarded as the intercessor and advocate in heaven of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or person...
of the cathedral, St. Vartan, is depicted fighting the Sassanid Persians who threatened the Armenian Church during the fifth century. Ecumenicism is symbolized in the portrait of St. Nerses
Saint Narses
Saint Nerses I the Great was an Armenian Catholicos who lived in the fourth century. He was the father of another catholicos, Saint Sahak I. His father was At'anagenes and his mother was Bambish, the sister of King Tiran....
and the crosses of Christendom.
External link
- St. Vartan Cathedral page at Eastern Diocese of the Armenian Church of America website