Armenian Church of the Assumption of the Holy Mother of God
Church of the Dormition of the Holy Mother of God in Virmensk
Ukraine, Bilhorod Dnistrovskyi
The Armenian Apostolic Church was built between the XIV-XV centuries by the Armenian community of Belgorod-Dnestrovsky and was active until 1940. On a T-shaped plan, the temple was repeatedly rebuilt and expanded, but retained a squat form, since the Muslim authorities forbade the construction of Christian churches higher than mosques. On the walls of the Church of the Assumption of the Holy Mother of God, ancient paintings and marble slabs with carved inscriptions have been preserved. After the closing of the church, the building was occupied by a museum and the base of an archaeological expedition. On the territory of the church there was an old cemetery with burial places of the end of the 18th century. A Sarmatian crypt of the 3rd century, built of stone slabs, has been preserved here. In 2013, the church was returned to the Armenian community.