Last week, leader of the Teodosia regime Dmitri Shchepetkov visited two Armenian churches in need of restoration, including the St. Gevorg Church located at Nakhimov Street and the St. Mikayel and Gabriel Archangels Church located at Armyanskaya Street. Since the citizens of Teodosia and the local Armenian community can’t restore the churches on their own, the municipal authorities intend to procure government funding, reports Teodosia’s “Pobeda” newspaper. This week, deputy head of the municipal authorities Makar Makarov held a consultation with representatives of the Armenian community and discussed the formulation of legal documents and issues on the restoration of those medieval monuments, reports PanARMENIAN.Net.

“Historical monuments tracing back to the 14^th and 15^th centuries are collapsing right in front of our eyes,” head of the municipal authorities Dmitri Shchepetkov said.

Today the St. Sargis Church is affiliated to the Teodosia Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church. The tomb of H. Aivazovsky, the St. Gevorg Armenian Church on Nakhimov Street and the St. Mikayel and Gabriel Archangels Armenian Church on Armyanskaya Street and the St. Hovhannes Mkrtich Church, are located in the yard of the St. Sargis Church.

“When Armenians were allowed to return to Crimea in 1992, we started fighting for the return of Armenian churches to the community. Four churches were returned before 1998,” leader of the Teodosia Diocese, Father Yeprem recalled. He said it’s hard for the community to renovate the churches since they are historical and cultural monuments and are conserved by the government. “Nevertheless, no matter what, we were able to restore the St. Sargis Church. Now we’re working on restoring the St. Gevorg Church. If we don’t, it will collapse,” he said.

The Armenian community and the municipal authorities can’t restore the St. Mikayel and Gabriel Archangels Church on their own. “Based on calculations, the government will have to make a nearly $1.5 million dollar investment,” Father Yeprem said, adding that there will also be a need to take measures to make sure there are no landslides.

“The only solution is to address the authorities of Moscow, the Ministry of Culture and the Russian Academy of Sciences,” Shchepetkov mentioned. The representative of the Armenian community said the attitude towards the activities of ethnic and religious communities changed as soon as Crimea was annexed to Russia. “I have been sending letters describing the state of Armenian churches in Kiev for 20 years, but those letters have remained unanswered. Now there is a chance to solve the legal and financial issues,” Shchepetkov said.

Leader of the Armenian community Ashot Gaboyan was also participating in the discussions with the municipal authorities.