Surp Toros Church in Kütahya had been destroyed. There is now a flat land in the place of the historical church.
Local sources, who gave information to the Agos Newspaper, said that they went to the region after the rumor that the church had been destroyed and that they encountered a flat land
It was known that the church was finally owned by an individual in the region. Estimates are that the destruction was made by the decision of this person.
Surp Toros Church is estimated to have been built during the time of Sultan Murad. Although the church was burned down during the Celali rebellions in 1603, it was rebuilt in a short time. Writer Arşag Alboyacıyan, who wrote that there was a rock on the church believed to be the footprint of St. Toros’s horse, noted that “Turkish women would sit on this stone and make religious officials read a holy book to get better.”
The church was used as a movie theater for a while and as a wedding hall until recently. The building was registered as a Real Estate Required for Protection on 27 August 2019, with the numbered 5407 decision of the Kütahya Cultural Heritage Preservation Regional Board.
Armenians in Balıkesir and Surp Toros Church
Before 1915, about 4 thousand Armenians lived in Balıkesir. There were three Armenian churches in the city and three Armenian schools under their umbrella. Two of the churches were Armenian Orthodox (Surp Asdvadzadzin and Surp Toros) and one was the Armenian Catholic Church (Surp Asdvadzin).
According to the 1931 census, there were only 65 Armenians and only one Armenian church open to worship in Kütahya. This number gradually decreased with immigration to İstanbul and abroad until the 1970s, after which there was no Armenian and Armenian church building in Kütahya.
The church was used as a movie theater for a while and as a wedding hall until recently. The building was registered as Immovable Property Required to be Protected on August 27, 2019, with the decision numbered 5407 of the Kütahya Cultural Heritage Preservation Regional Board. (Agos, Bianet)
