On April 24, the Day of Glorification of the Holy Martyrs of the Armenian Genocide in Ottoman Turkey in 1915, the Armenians of St. Petersburg commemorated the anniversary of the first mass extermination of people in the 20th century on ethnic and religious features.
In the Church of St. Catherine, after the Divine Liturgy, under the leadership of the vicar of the head of the Russian and Novo-Nakhichevan diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church for St. Petersburg and the North-Western region, hieromonk Poghos Vardanyan, the Order of intercession was performed. Uniting in a single prayer with the Armenians of the whole world, the clergy and parishioners of the church asked for the intercession of the Holy Martyrs for the peace and prosperity of Armenia.
Commemorative events continued in the Kama Garden, with a solemn ceremony of laying flowers and wreaths at the monument to Komitas. At the end of the ceremony, the Armenians of St. Petersburg and the Leningrad region, representatives of the national communities and public organizations of the city honored the memory of the Holy Martyrs with a minute of silence.
The events ended with the Evening of Remembrance at the Vernatun Cultural Center in St. Petersburg, a chamber concert and an exhibition of documentary photographs demonstrate the consequences of the frenzied desire to wipe out Armenians from the face of the earth.
The commemoration evening was opened by Hieromonk Poghos Vardanyan with the prayer ‘Our Father’ and an introductory speech. The Consul General of the Republic of Armenia in St. Petersburg Maria Babayan and Permanent Representative of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia in the CIS IPA Hayk Chilingaryan also spoke.
St. Catherine’s St. Petersburg Armenian Church Choir conducted by Eduard Safaryan, Vardan Harutyunyan (duduk), Sergey Polyanichko (duduk), Ashot Karapetyan (duduk), Mariam Vardapetyan (piano), Ivan Chepkevich (violin), Valery Nam (duduk) took part in the concert part of the evening.
