Armenian Church, Singapore

This article is about the Armenian Church in Singapore. For the general article about the Armenian Apostolic Church, see Armenian Apostolic Church.
Armenian Church of Saint Gregory The Illuminator
Chinese: 亚米尼亚教堂; pinyin: Yàmǐníyà Jiàotáng
Armenian: Սուրբ Գրիգոր Լուսավորիչ եկեղեցի, Surb Grigor Lusavorich yekeghetsi
1°17′35″N 103°50′57.5″E / 1.29306°N 103.849306°E / 1.29306; 103.849306
Country Singapore
Denomination Armenian Apostolic Church
Tradition Armenian Rite
History
Dedication St. Gregory the Illuminator
Consecrated 1836
Architecture
Designated
Designated 6 July 1973
Architect(s) George Drumgoole Coleman
Style Neoclassical
Groundbreaking 1834
Completed 1835
Construction cost 5,000 Spanish dollars

Coordinates: 1°17′35″N 103°50′57.5″E / 1.29306°N 103.849306°E / 1.29306; 103.849306

The Armenian Church of Saint Gregory the Illuminator (Chinese: 亚米尼亚教堂; pinyin: Yàmǐníyà Jiàotáng; Armenian: Սուրբ Գրիգոր Լուսավորիչ եկեղեցի, Surb Grigor Lusavorich yekeghetsi), often known as Armenian Church, is the oldest Christian church in Singapore,[1] located at Hill Street in the Museum Planning Area, within the Central Area. Originally a parish of the Armenian Apostolic Church, an Oriental Orthodox denomination, the last Armenian parish priest left in the late 1930s as Armenian population in Singapore dwindled. Fr. Zaven Yazichyan became the spiritual pastor of Singapore on 29 March 2016. Armenian and Oriental Orthodox services are regularly held at the church.

History

The east front of the Church bears an elegant bowed apse with a pediment into which the date "1835" is carved to commemorate the year the church's foundation was laid

The church was commissioned by the first twelve Armenian families that settled in Singapore.[2] It was designed by George Drumgoole Coleman, the architect of many of Singapore's early buildings who also became the first Superintendent of Public Works. The church is dedicated to St Gregory the Illuminator, the first Patriarch of the Church in Armenia.[3]

The Armenians were among the earliest merchants and traders to arrive in Singapore after Sir Stamford Raffles established it as a trading port in 1819. The community already held religious services in Singapore by 1821, and the first priest, the Reverend Krikor Hovhannes (Gregory John), arrived in July 1827.[4] A temporary chapel was set up at the back of John Little & Company at Commercial Square (today's Raffles Place).[3] The community started to raise funds for the construction of a new church in 1827. Over half the construction cost of 5,058.30 Spanish dollars was donated by the Armenian community in Singapore, with the rest coming from Armenians in Java and India, and a small portion from European and Chinese merchants in Singapore. The Armenian community was very small – the 1824 census counted only 16 members, and 34 in 1836 when the church opened – its contribution to the Armenian Church was therefore considerable in proportion, an indication of the prosperity and religious devotion of the Armenians.[4][5]

The government granted the land at the foot of Fort Canning in 1834 at the request of the Armenian community.[4] The foundation stone was laid on 1 January 1835 by the Supreme Archimandrite Reverend Thomas Gregorian, who also opened and consecrated the new church on Easter Sunday in 1836. He was assisted by Reverend Catchick Johannes, the priest for the local community.[3] It was the first church to be built in Singapore.

The church has undergone a few modifications since it was first built. A bell turret designed by Coleman was deemed structurally unsound, and it was replaced first by a square tower in 1847, then again replaced in 1853 with the spire as it appears today, which was designed by George Maddock.[3]

In 1909, the church became the first building in Singapore with electricity.[5] In the late 1960s, when the Christian Cemetery at Fort Canning was cleared for a park, early Armenian tombstones there were moved into the Memorial Garden at the church ground. Tombstones from Bukit Timah-Cavenagh Road cemetery were also moved here.[5]

Armenian Street is named after the church and it was known earlier by its Chinese name seng poh sin chu au meaning "the back of Seng Poh's new building" (Tan Seng Poh was the first Chinese to serve on the Municipal Commission).[5]

The Armenian Church was gazetted as a national monument on 6 July 1973.[6]

Architecture

The Church's interior showing the altar and nave

The existing Armenian Church, built in the British neoclassical style, is centrally-designed in the manner of the mother church of Echmiadzin in northern Armenia.[4] The church interior is circular, imposed within a square-cross plan, with projecting square porticos using Roman Doric orders. The chancel-cum-altar is semi-circular. The Palladian-style design may have been inspired by the circular plan for St Andrews's Church in Chennai, which is in turn derived from one of James Gibbs' designs for St Martin-in-the-Fields in London that he published in his Book of Architecture.[2][7] The original symmetrical design included neither tower nor spire, instead it featured an octagonal cone supporting a small bell turret with Ionic columns.

Nevertheless, with all the eclectic references, Coleman produced a design which is adapted to suit Singapore's tropical climate. For instance, the wide verandahs give essential shade and protect the timber-louvred windows on the ground floor from heavy downpours. The windows, in turn, diffuse the sunlight and induce cross ventilation. The pews, which would normally be entirely in wood, are backed with woven rattan, a much lighter and cooler material.[3]

The spire, topped with a ball and cross, sits on the octagonal tower, and is the second to replace the original bell turret by Coleman. It was replaced by a square tower, using Doric pilasters, in 1846, followed by the present spire in 1853. An English architect called Maddock had the pitched roof replaced by the present one and, to support the existing tower and spire, added the east portico around the original chancel. Probably at the same time the main entrance on the west portico was widened.

On the north, south and west fronts of the church are Tuscan Doric porticos capped with triangular pediments.[2] The east front bears an elegant bowed apse with a pediment into which the date "1835" is carved to commemorate the year the church's foundation was laid. The bowed apse is boxed in by the portico on which the spire was built.[2] The north, south and west porticos were designed such that horse carriages could pull into the porches, right up to the doors of the church. The porches were designed to be on level with the base of the carriages so that ladies could step into the church without soiling their dresses on the ground below.

Although the interior is curcular, said to resemble the famous round Holy Sepulchre in Cambridge, England, it is actually based on a square cross, symbolic of the Cross of Christ. Facing the main entrance is the grand altar, prominently raised above the height of the pews.

On the church grounds are the parsonage and the Memorial Garden to Armenians. The parsonage, a two-storey bungalow, was built in 1905 by Nanajan Sarkies in memory of her late husband, John Shanazar Sarkies. Amongst the Armenians in Singapore, the Sarkies family was probably the most notable, in particular brothers Archak, Aviet and Tigran of Raffles Hotel fame. A number of tombstones of prominent Armenians, such as Agnes Joaquim who bred Singapore's national flower and Catchik Moses who founded the Straits Times newspaper also lie here.

Current use

The last Armenian parish priest left in the late 1930s with the dwindling Armenian population in Singapore. On 29 March 2016 by the Pontifical Order of Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians, Fr. Zaven Yazichyan], a member of the Brotherhood of Holy Etchmiadzin, was appointed to serve as the spiritual pastor of Singapore.[8] Other Christian communities have occasionally been permitted use of the building.

Gallery

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Armenian Church, Singapore.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Small group big part of S'pore's heritage". AsiaOne. 27 April 2015. Retrieved 29 December 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Jane Beamish; Jane Ferguson (1 December 1985). A History of Singapore Architecture: The Making of a City. Graham Brash (Pte.) Ltd. pp. 39–43. ISBN 978-9971947972.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 "Armenian Apostolic Church of Saint Gregory the Illuminator". Roots. National Heritage Board.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "Armenian Church". Singapore Infopedia. National Library Board, Singapore.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Victor R Savage; Brenda Yeoh (15 June 2013). Singapore Street Names: A Study of Toponymics. Marshall Cavendish Editions. p. 23. ISBN 9789814484749.
  6. ↑ "Armenian Apostolic Church of Saint Gregory the Illuminator". National Heritage Board. Retrieved 29 December 2015.
  7. ↑ "Plate 10: Gibbs' Design for Circular Church". British History Online.
  8. ↑ "New Clergy Appointments in the Far East". The Armenian Church - Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin. 29 March 2016. Retrieved 13 June 2016.

External links

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