The St. Mary Armenian Apostolic Church in Chennai (Madras), India, is scheduled to open today, three years after its last service according to The Times of India.

The service will commemorate Rev. Harutiun Shmavonian who published Azdarar, the first Armenian journal in 1794.

The Times of India spoke with Ashkhen Khachatryan, one of the five Armenians who still live in Chennai.

“The extended Armenian community in south India is excited. We have Armenians coming in from Bengaluru as well. The church will be packed,” Khachatryan told the newspaper.

The church, first erected in 1712, is one of the oldest Armenian churched in India.

Shmavonian and 350 other Armenians are buried in the church’s cemetery.

The Indian newspaper Deecan Chronicle, in 2012, wrote the church had no priest, but that caretaker Trevor Alexander rang the church’s huge bells every Sunday. 

Photo: The Hindu