The construction was funded by Javad Melikiants (Melikov), a Baku-based Armenian philanthropist and founder of the city's first paraffin plant.

A group of armed activists affiliated with the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaks), led by Nikol Duman defended the church.

[10] The large Armenian population of Baku, over 200,000 people, begaing fleeing their homes following the Sumgait pogrom in February 1988 during the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

[11] Catholicos Vazgen I, head of the Armenian Church, wrote to Yuri Khristoradnov [ru], the chairman of the Soviet Council for Religious Affairs, that "extremist Azeri nationalists" set fire to the church, which destroyed "valuable ecclesiastical books, holy paintings, and all ecclesiastical clothing.

[15] In his 2003 book Black Garden, Thomas de Waal wrote the church "remains a gutted shell", its "cross has been removed from the belfry" and that it was "used as a pool [billiard] hall."

[1][2] In 2006 Azerbaijani Minister of Culture Abulfas Garayev stated that converting the church into a library is purposeful because there are not many Armenian Christians in Azerbaijan.

[20] Emil Sanamyan, fellow at the USC Institute of Armenian Studies, argued that it is a depository and not a library, as there is no public access.

[21][22] Despite the aggressive state-sponsored anti-Armenian sentiment in Azerbaijan, the Azerbaijani authorities have presented the church as proof of their tolerance of minorities, especially the Armenians.

[27] In April 2012 the Armenian delegation participating at a Euronest Parliamentary Assembly meeting in Baku visited the church.