Description of the attraction
The Cathedral of Saint Vardan is the first cathedral of the Armenian Apostolic Church in North America. It looks like an ancient temple, just well restored, but in reality it was built in 1969.
In fact, the construction of the cathedral was conceived back in 1926 - the young Armenian community in New York then raised 100 thousand dollars. Three years later, a stock market crash forced the project to stop. They returned to this idea only in 1942, when Archbishop Garegin I Hovsepyan made an appeal to the Diocesan Assembly. “Our diocese,” he said, “has neither a cathedral, nor a diocesan house, nor a national library. It's time to meet these needs. By the end of the 1940s, fundraising was gaining momentum - many people organized charity dinners, bazaars and other events. Parishioners throughout the diocese enthusiastically contributed money to the construction fund. The common goal has further rallied the diaspora.
The site for the construction of the complex was chosen not far from the former Armenian quarter, between 34th and 35th streets. First, a diocesan house and a cultural center were built, and in 1968 Vazgen I, the Catholicos of All Armenians, consecrated a new church. The cathedral is dedicated to Saint Vardan, a commander who in the 5th century fought with the Persian king for the right of the Armenian people to profess Christianity.
The cathedral was designed on the model of the church of St. Hripsime in Echmiadzin, with the indispensable features of the Armenian church architecture: double intersecting arches and a pyramidal dome. The dome is covered with gold leaf, the walls of the temple are finished with limestone. In front of the entrance to the cathedral there is a spacious square, above the door there is a relief image of Saint Vardan.
The interior is traditionally simple. Attention is drawn to the interior vault of the dome painted in blue-brown tones with images of Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit and various symbols - the Eucharist, the Church, love, resurrection. Stained-glass windows in narrow windows represent scenes from the life of Christ and episodes from the Book of Genesis, including the appearance of Noah's ark on Mount Ararat. The fixtures seem to be modern, in fact they were made in the 7th century. The stone crosses in the cathedral date back to the 15th century and were found in Armenia on the ruins of an ancient church.
