Saint Michael the Archangel Orthodox Church in Gyumri was consecrated in 1886 by Archbishop Poghos of the Greek-Russian Orthodox Church of Georgia. Locals call it “Plplan Jam”, meaning “the shining church,” because of its gleaming silver cupola that reflects the sunlight.
The church was built from local black stone called tuff and stands on the “Hill of Honor” (Patvo Blur) — a site that once served as a Russian military cemetery for soldiers who fell in battles against the Ottoman Empire.
Within the church grounds, there is a monument dedicated to those who died during the capture of the fortress in Kars in 1877. (Kars, a historically Armenian city, became part of the Ottoman Empire after the Russo-Turkish War and was later recognized as a part of modern-day Turkey by the USSR.) The monument is a replica of the original, which was first erected in Kars in 1910.
After the Soviet regime was established in 1920, the chapel was closed, like many other religious buildings of the time. In the 1980s, it was reopened — this time as a Museum of Armenian-Russian Friendship.
Unfortunately, the 1988 Spitak earthquake severely damaged the structure, and most of the exhibits were lost.
In 1997, the restored clock tower and building were reopened once again — this time as a functioning Russian Orthodox Church dedicated to Saint Michael the Archangel.
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