Restoration of St. Sarkis Armenian Church in Diyarbakir, Turkey

The restoration of the 16th-century St. Sarkis Armenian Catholic Church located in the Sur central district of Diyarbakir, Turkey, is set to begin.

According to reports from Ermenihaber, the restoration project has been assigned to the Diyarbakir Geodesy and Cultural Heritage Administration, which announced a tender for the restoration project in December 2021. A contract worth 947,640 Turkish lira (approximately $70,000) has been signed with the company that won the tender for project design and preparatory work.

It is noted that the partially ruined church was last renovated in 1840, with the construction records currently held at the Diyarbakir Archaeology Museum. The issue of the church's preservation was raised last October by Archbishop Sahak Mashalian, the Armenian Patriarch of Istanbul, during a visit to Diyarbakir's governor, Munir Karaloğlu.

Furthermore, St. Sarkis is also known as the Rice Church, as it was used as a rice processing factory between 1950 and 1985.