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2,000 Armenians attend mass in Akhtamar church
http://www.tert.am/en/news/2012/09/09/hollycros-mass/
18:39 - 09.09.12
Around 2,000 Armenians from Turkey and the diaspora flocked to the
Holy Cross church on Akhtamar island
for an annual mass on Sunday.
Boats provided a shuttle service for pilgrims from all over Turkey,
and some from Armenia and elsewhere in Europe, to the isle on Lake
Van, to the 10th century Church of the Holy Cross, Hurriyet Daily News
reported, citing Anatolia news agency.
Turkish authorities restored the church between 2005 and 2007, which
then opened as a museum. Mass was celebrated there for the first time
in 95 years in 2010.
According to the Turkish tourism ministry, the church attracted nearly
30,000 visitors in 2010, and similar number in 2011.
Monsignor Aram Atessian, the acting Armenian patriarch, presided over
this year's mass, attended by 2,000 faithful, of whom only a few dozen
were able to watch inside the church, the rest following proceedings
from outside.
The congregation prayed for peace in the world at a time when Turkey's
neighbour Syria, which also has a large community of Armenians, is
being torn apart by a conflict which has left thousands of people dead
since it erupted in March 2011.
http://www.tert.am/en/news/2012/09/09/hollycros-mass/
18:39 - 09.09.12
Around 2,000 Armenians from Turkey and the diaspora flocked to the
Holy Cross church on Akhtamar island
for an annual mass on Sunday.
Boats provided a shuttle service for pilgrims from all over Turkey,
and some from Armenia and elsewhere in Europe, to the isle on Lake
Van, to the 10th century Church of the Holy Cross, Hurriyet Daily News
reported, citing Anatolia news agency.
Turkish authorities restored the church between 2005 and 2007, which
then opened as a museum. Mass was celebrated there for the first time
in 95 years in 2010.
According to the Turkish tourism ministry, the church attracted nearly
30,000 visitors in 2010, and similar number in 2011.
Monsignor Aram Atessian, the acting Armenian patriarch, presided over
this year's mass, attended by 2,000 faithful, of whom only a few dozen
were able to watch inside the church, the rest following proceedings
from outside.
The congregation prayed for peace in the world at a time when Turkey's
neighbour Syria, which also has a large community of Armenians, is
being torn apart by a conflict which has left thousands of people dead
since it erupted in March 2011.