Shops lined up on both sides. As you slowly walk forward, you will feel like you have entered a street in Kolkata. The presence of Hindus and the smell of incense and incense sticks will give you that feeling. This entire area is like a living history. There is a story hidden in every corner here.
Shankhari Bazar has many branch shops. You can also find shops selling musical instruments, copper and brass utensils, and stone and pottery.
Before the church was built, it was a cemetery for Armenians. It is said that there was also a small chapel. Armenians living in Dhaka were buried here when they died. Later, Aga Katchik Minas donated land for the church. It is also said that four other people helped construct the church. They were Michael Sarkis, Okotavatasetur Sivorg, Aga Amnias and Markar Pogge. This beautiful church, built in Armenian architecture, was damaged in the earthquake of 1897 but was later repaired.
This church is surrounded by hundreds of centuries-old graves—325 in total. Some graves can also be seen on the church’s porch. Every grave has a beautiful marble epitaph. Written in English and Armenian, the epitaph contains the lamentations of the deceased’s relatives, birth and death records, and some information about the deceased’s career.
The most spectacular grave here is the sculpture of Mary on the obelisk. Unfortunately, one of the arms of the sculpture is broken. Due to the authorities’ indifference, it has not been repaired yet. This is the tomb of a certain catechist, Avetic Thomas. His wife bought this beautiful statue from Kolkata and installed it. In the epitaph, she referred to her husband as the ‘Best of Husbands’.
As you enter the church, you will see rows of benches. This is the main prayer room. At the end of the room, there is a high altar. Above the altar is a picture of Jesus Christ and a metal cross. At the entrance to the church, on the left, there is a spiral staircase leading to the two floors.
The Armenian Church has not held prayer services since 1986 due to the absence of a priest. However, Armenian citizen Michael Joseph Martin and his wife Veronica Martin used to take care of it. When Veronica Martin died in 2005, she was buried in front of the church. That was the last Armenian grave in Dhaka. After his wife’s death, Michael Martin became alone. After caring for this church for nine years, he went to Canada to be with his daughters in 2014. He died there on April 10, 2020.
It is known that prayers are occasionally held in this church today. Armenians working in various embassies in Dhaka come and pray in their way on special days.
You can easily travel back more than a hundred years by glancing at the tombs scattered throughout the church. So, you can visit there from time to time. It is open to the public every day from 9 am to 5 pm.