The Holy Cross (Sourp Khach) Church on Akhtamar island hosted its fourth divine liturgy served by the General Vicar of the Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople, Archbishop Aram Ateshian on Sunday, Sept 8.
A baptism ceremony was for the first time held in the Church in the presence of numerous guests from Diaspora, representatives of the Armenian community of Istanbul and tourists.
Built between 915 and 921, the Holy Cross Church is one of the few surviving examples of the ancient Armenian civilization in what is now eastern Turkey.
Hundreds of Armenian churches built there since the early Middle Ages were destroyed, ransacked or turned into mosques during and after the Armenian Genocide in 1915.
Turkish authorities repaired the church between 2005 and 2007, which then opened as a museum. Mass was held there for the first time in 95 years in 2010.
A cross was installed on the dome of the church on October 1, 2010.
