1/3 Buzand Str., Yerevan 0010, RA
The city of Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi is located in the Odesa region of Ukraine. Its ancient name was Tyras, and until 1944, it was called Akkerman. In this fortress city on the banks of the Dniester, there was once a large and influential Armenian community.
1. There were three Armenian churches in the city, of which only one has survived to this day: the Church of Saint Oxent. It is located at 1 Kuznetsov Street and has currently been converted into a Museum of the History of Religion.
The Church of Saint Oxent is a rectangular stone structure with a single-nave hall design. Small sacristies are located to the left and right of the central eastern altar. The building is partially buried in the ground. Khachkars (cross-stones) with carvings and inscriptions are embedded in the church walls.
According to the construction inscription located on the eastern wall of the right sacristy, the Church of Saint Oxent was built in 1699 with funds provided by Armenian merchants of Akkerman and other believers. However, there is an opinion that this inscription refers not to the construction of the church but to renovation works (Divan, pp. 260–261).
2. The Armenian cemetery in Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi was located on the outskirts of Shabskaya Street, adjacent to the meat-packing plant. In the late 1970s, it was demolished in connection with the construction of new buildings for the enterprise.
During a visit by epigrapher Grigor Grigoryan in 1971, the cemetery was still in satisfactory condition. The tombstones of the Astvatsaturyan family were particularly notable. In the Divan Hay Vimagrutyan (Corpus of Armenian Epigraphy), Grigoryan published 20 inscriptions from this cemetery, noting that many others existed at the time (p. 270).
References
1. Father Minas Bzshkyants, Travel to Poland, Venice—St. Lazarus, 1830.
2. Corpus of Armenian Epigraphy, Issue VII. Ukraine, Moldova, compiled by Grigor Grigoryan, Yerevan, NAS, 1996.
3. David Davtyan and Andrey Krasnozhon, Armenian Inscriptions from Medieval Bilhorod-on-Dniester, YSU, Armenological Issues, 2015, No. 2, pp. 77-84.
