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TURKEY: HISTORIC ARMENIAN CHURCH TO REOPEN IN VAN CITY
ANSA Med, Italy
Feb 5 2014
Closed for years because it was located inside an army base
05 February, 13:45
(ANSAmed) - ANKARA, FEBRUARY 5 - A church in the 1,700-year-old St.
Bartholomew Monastery in Turkey's eastern city Van will be restored
and opened to tourists, Anadolu Agency reports. The provincial culture
and tourism directorate said that the restoration project for the
church was sent to the Ministry of Culture. The church had been closed
for years as it is located within the compound of an army base. It
reopened for religious services in 2013, when the base was relocated.
"We are planning to restore the church and open it to tourists by the
end of this year," said Muzaffer Aktug, Culture and Tourism Director
of the Van province. St. Bartholomew's Church was built on the site
of the martyrdom of the Apostle Bartholomew, who is reputed to have
brought Christianity to Armenia in the first century. The area around
Van is noted for its numerous Armenian churches and Iron Age Urartu
ruins. (ANSAmed).
http://www.ansamed.info/ansamed/en/news/sections/culture/2014/02/05/Turkey-historic-Armenian-church-reopen-Van-city_10017798.html
From: A. Papazian
ANSA Med, Italy
Feb 5 2014
Closed for years because it was located inside an army base
05 February, 13:45
(ANSAmed) - ANKARA, FEBRUARY 5 - A church in the 1,700-year-old St.
Bartholomew Monastery in Turkey's eastern city Van will be restored
and opened to tourists, Anadolu Agency reports. The provincial culture
and tourism directorate said that the restoration project for the
church was sent to the Ministry of Culture. The church had been closed
for years as it is located within the compound of an army base. It
reopened for religious services in 2013, when the base was relocated.
"We are planning to restore the church and open it to tourists by the
end of this year," said Muzaffer Aktug, Culture and Tourism Director
of the Van province. St. Bartholomew's Church was built on the site
of the martyrdom of the Apostle Bartholomew, who is reputed to have
brought Christianity to Armenia in the first century. The area around
Van is noted for its numerous Armenian churches and Iron Age Urartu
ruins. (ANSAmed).
http://www.ansamed.info/ansamed/en/news/sections/culture/2014/02/05/Turkey-historic-Armenian-church-reopen-Van-city_10017798.html
From: A. Papazian