User:Seyhan668/Adana Armenian Cathedral

Surp Asdvadzadzin Cathedral, was the Armenian Apostolic Cathedral of Adana, located in the Tepebag district. The cathedral served as the Cathedral of the Armenian Apostolic diocese of Adana until 1922. Aramian high school and the Armenian Apostolic bishophoric was also built in the church property.

Surp Asdvadzadzin Cathedral was built in the early 1800s at the site of a Roman temple. Major expansion work completed at the church in the early 1900s by the Adana bishop Muşeğ Seropyan with the support of the Vali Bahri Paşa. The church thus, was converted into a cathedral and hosted the seat of the Adana Bishop. Aramian high school was also built at this time. After the deportation of the Adana Armenians at the course of Armenian Genocide, the church building was used as a military depot at the World War I. With the start of the French rule in 1918, the cathedral was restored to it's origin. After the Cilicia Christian evacuations, the government of Turkey had confiscated the building in 1923 and converted into a state building. In 1930s, the building was rented out to Baki Tonguç, a local cinema enterpreneur. He opened the largest indoor Cinema Hall of Adana, Tan Sineması, which served until late 1960s. The cathedral was demolished in 1970s, to open space for the construction of the regional headquarters of Turkish Central Bank (Türkiye Cumhuriyet Merkez Bankası, TCMB). During the first 50 years of Republic of Turkey, Armenian cultural heritage had largely demolished, destroyed or left unattended with Anti-Armenian sentiment.