The Armenian Church of Saint Gregory, located at Hill Street in Singapore’s central business district, is the oldest Christian church in Singapore.
The Armenian Church was commissioned by the first twelve Armenian families that settled in Singapore in the early 1820ies.
The church is a masterpiece of the famous architect George Drumgoole Coleman, is perhaps the finest landmark in the early architectural development of the nation. Coleman modeled the Church after St Gregory’s Church in Echmiadzin, Armenia. In 1827, after funds had been collected, the first priest, the Reverend Krikor Hovhannes (Gregory John), arrived. The government granted the land on which the church stands to the Armenian community, by 1835, the building was completed. Consecrated by Reverend Catchick Johannes in 1836 and dedicated to St Gregory the Illuminator, the first Patriarch of the Church in Armenia. Armenian Street is named after the church and it’s Chinese name is “seng poh sin chu au”. Armenian Church was gazetted as a national monument on 6 July 1973.
On the church grounds are the parsonage and the beautiful Memorial Garden to Armenians. The parsonage, a two-story 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, discoverer of Singapore’s national flower – the Vanda Miss Joaquim orchid and Catchik Moses who founded the Straits Times newspaper, lie here.
Below more pictures of the beautiful memorial garden and the church.
Love the detailed photos. Went here last year when I was in Singapore. Unfortunately the trip was very short and I went here in the evening. There was not a soul in sight though and considering how crowded the area is, it was sad to see there was no one in the church or even in its premises. But that gave it this old-word quiet charm. Great post and thanks for sharing! 🙂
That’s really sad yes, our community isn’t what it used to be. And I know what you mean, by the old world quit. That’s the feeling I get with abandoned Churches in Armenian forests. Kinda feels like those are the real houses of Lord. So much to discover, just yourself with your own thoughts. Singapore seems awesome btw, I’m ashamed to say I never been in those parts of the world. Been looking though pictures recently and it seems like a paradise 🙂
I just noticed I wrote ‘old-word’ instead of ‘old-world’ :P. Error. Yes the Armenian community in many parts (in Eastern Asia especially) has been getting smaller sadly. I’d love to see those old churches and monasteries in Armenian forests (it’s a dream still!) And I’m a big maniac when it comes to history and relics so I’m sure I’d love all that! :D. Went to Singapore for just 2 days. Interesting place – it’s realliy westernised and has places that have different mixtures of culture and stuff. Still it is a relatively new country as far as architecture and history… Read more »
Yes I’ve read about it once or twice I think, but never in detail. I am planning to research it in more detail though. Sounds very interesting. I love to discover such things, I would never think we had communities in those parts of the world. But I do know that Armenians have always been fascinated by India. I remember countless of Indian movies my parents and grand parents would watch lol. They know all the actors and everything loool. I hope the Armenian communities in Asia won’t get forgotten by other Armenians, cause to be honest we almost never… Read more »
I had written a nice long reply and just before I posted it, I lost it :/. I had a look at all the photos you sent. What can I say? I’m going crazyyy here! I love isolated ruins that are in all these wonderful forest kinda places. Wow. I really need to visit Armenia. High time. It’s interesting – I was reading about Armenians in India and there was something about an Armenian graveyard in Agra. Since Agra was the stronghold of the Mughals for a long time, it’s no coincidence. The Mughal Emperor Akbar apparently had an Armenian… Read more »
haha that sucks lol. But sure you are more than welcome to visit Armenia and the old mountain forests with such ruins 🙂 There are many tourists destinations to such ruins and old monasteries. There are also some cool hiking routs I’ve read about through forests and ruins. If you’re interested in such things. Personally I’m usually too tired to hike 😛 I’ve heard Zangezur Trails is a cool one. Tourism is not so big in Armenia, but I guess that makes it kinda cool also. When I went to Paris, Berlin and Rome I just hated the hordes of… Read more »
Well the reason I am most attracted to Armenia is because it is historically rich (and because it isn’t touristy). I agree with you – I do not like touristy places either. They detract from the real feeling a place should have. I would love to interact with the locals, (and I’ve heard Armenians are some of the most hospitable people anyhow 🙂 ). And going to a non-touristy place means you can experience so much more (the way it is supposed to be experienced). So that’s why I am most attracted to places that have fewer tourists :D. Hiking… Read more »
Aramazd Armenia A god
Aranyani Hindu/ Vedic a minor goddess of woodlands
Aranzahas Hittite The Tigris river deified
Arapacana Buddhist A god
Ararat Anatolia The ancient creator goddess
On the Enternet under “Table of gods” it says that ARARAT is Anatolian “The ancient creator goddess” – any comments on this?
It’s east.. following the political agenda, since today Ararat maount is situated in Turkey, and because nothing ancient in Turkey can be called Turkish, political and Academic circles put forth a new term Anatolia instead of Armenian Highland, or simply Armenia.. that’s all..
I meant – it’s easy..
The bad part is that new generation is growing with wrong knowledge in their hand. Because it is on Internet new generation believes to what they read on Internet.
Is there any Armenian ‘body’ to correct or oppose such cruel attitude towards the historical truth?
Rubik we also used to worship the sun. As it’s known it’s ‘Arev’ in Armenian. We have songs poems and prayers dedicated to the Sun. Moses of Chorene and Agathangelos wrote about Armenian worship of the sun. Perhaps the oldest witness to this worship in Armenia is Xenophon, who notes that the Armenians sacrificed horses to the sun. Also we prayed toward the rising sun, a tradition which the early Armenian Apostolic Church adopted, so that to this day the Armenian churches are built and the Armenian dead are buried toward the east, the west being the dwelling of evil… Read more »
I read what she is saying and it’s GOOD. My questions to her in connection with the name ARARAT are: 1. Why Noah landed on the mountain Ararat? It is not the highest mountain of the world. 2. Why Armenians were first to worship Sun? In what form it was worshiped in the beginning? We know that Haik also was Sun god and there are differences between Sun gods that has been worshiped in Armenia. What are the differences? 3. Why and how Masis name came forward? There are more questions in connection with Noah -Ararat -Masis but I’ll stop… Read more »
Some thought on ZORATS KAR and ARARAT For delivering his offerings to the GOD NOAH had to built Altar. He had stones in the ark for controlling movements of the ark. Noah built Altar from those stones. So stones served double purpose as ” weight” during navigation of the ark and “altar” that he build to bring sacrifice to the GOD. “Mount Nisir”(Masis) translated from Akkadian to Shomerian is “Kur-u Kur nisir.” “KUR”means “HILL” in Shumerian and it is “KAR” (stone) in Armenian. So the translation from Akkadian: “as-kun sur-qin-nu ina IGU ziq- qur-rat KUR-I” translates: “as -kun” means I-plased;… Read more »