Surb Astvatzatzin church (Erzurum Metropolitan Municipality)

 mosque, Roman Catholic church, Armenian Apostolic church

Historical monuments of Erzrum (historical name: Karin) are almost entirely lost. What is left are structures of relatively late times. The most famous of them is Surb Astvatzatzin church (Armenian: Կարնո Սուրբ Աստվածածին եկեղեցի, meaning: The Holy Virgin Church of Karin). It was built in 1840 on the site of an elder, 7th century building. In ancient times, the monastery of the Forty Martyrs was located near this church. S.Astvatzatzin was one of the most beautiful and largest buildings in whole Upper Armenia. It is built of reddish-hewn sandstone, the dome of which rests on 20 columns made of whole pieces of stone. The building has three entrances. Next to it was a smaller church that was also carried a name of Surb Astvatzatzin, where a church meeting was held in 629 under the leadership of Catholicos Yezr (629-641). In the Armenian church until 1915 dozens of Armenian manuscripts and printed literature of 13th-18th centuries were kept. Karin (old name of Erzurum) was the residence of the Armenian diocesan leader. At present it has been turned into a mosque, unfortunately its Armenian inscriptions have been deleted. Also the references to this church in the Turkish archives had been falsified; today it is presented as a structure of Byzantine origin.