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A city in the city – the Armenian community in Plovdiv

Jelena Kostic

Mara, Alina, Nils, Jane, Ida who visited the Armenian church share their experience:

“The Armenian Church is located in an idyllic area of Plovdiv, just next to the Armenian school. We were introduced by a very kind Armenian woman who was daily related to the church. She had the church doors especially unlocked for us, and we went in, feeling very wet from the rain but also very welcome. The room was well lit by beautiful chandeliers in the high ceiling, casting shadows on the religious icons decorating the church. The woman showed us into the small exclusive museum in one of the back rooms of the church, exhibiting old relics and treasures from older times. From the start we all agreed that we felt very welcome to ask freely and she had nothing against it, also we were allowed to both take (in other situations) “illegal” pictures of the church as well as tape everything we experienced on both recorder and video camera. Even more exclusively than the museum was a holy Easter relic covered for this time of the year, on which a Jesus figure is placed religiously while the holiday is celebrated. The interview went very well, and we could be told about the time when the communist regime was trying to repress religions, and learned that the Armenian Church had had members inside the government who actually protected the church the best they could. All in all it was a very interesting and exciting day for all, learning new things about the Armenian Church.”