Saint Catherine's Armenian Church

St. Catherine's Armenian Church (Russian: Армянская церковь Святой Екатерины, Armyanskaya tserkov Svyatoy Yekaterini; Armenian: Սուրբ Կատարինե եկեղեցի, Surb Katarine yekeghetsi) is an Armenian Apostolic church on Nevsky Prospect, in central Saint Petersburg, Russia.

Private stables of Empress Elizabeth of Russia stood on its location in the mid-18th century,[2] until it was granted to Petersburg Armenians on May 2, 1770 by Empress Catherine the Great, upon the request of her Armenian jeweler Ivan Lazarev.

[7] The church was consecrated on February 18, 1780, by Hovsep Arghutian (Prince Argutinsky-Dolgorukov), the archbishop of the Russian diocese of the Armenian church, in the presence of Prince Grigory Potemkin, the favourite of Catherine the Great.

[7] During the Second World War, the building served as the headquarters of the anti-aircraft defense and later as a decoration room of the Leningrad Theater of Musical Comedy.

[3][7][13] The Armenian community regained ownership of the church in August 1992[7][4] and the first mass took place in March 1993.

An image of the church from 1880.