St. Vartan Armenian Cathedral
630 2nd Avenue | also 622 2nd Avenue | Murray Hill | built 1966
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The city photographed every building for its tax records around 1940 and again in the 1980s. NYC Municipal Archives.
Written with AI from the source each entry cites, then fact-checked.
- 1949
The Armenian diocese buys cathedral land from Columbia University
In 1949 the Armenian Church announced its first purchase for a New York cathedral: an L-shaped parcel of 15,500 square feet bounded by East 35th Street and Tunnel Approach Street. Columbia University supplied most of the land, where its College of Dental and Oral Surgery buildings had been torn down for the tunnel road. The purchase also included the building at 630 Second Avenue, which was remodeled as the primate's temporary home and the diocesan offices.
Source: Wikipedia
- 1960
Catholicos Vasken I makes the first pontifical visit to America and presses for a cathedral
In 1960, the year after the diocesan house was finished, Vasken I made the first pontifical visit to America by an Armenian Catholicos from Etchmiadzin. He said it would be a day of great rejoicing when he heard that construction of the cathedral in New York had begun. Groundbreaking followed in 1965.
Source: armenianchurch.us
- 1967
The Armenian cultural center is dedicated beside the future cathedral
The three-story Armenian cultural center on the cathedral block was dedicated on October 21, 1967, six months before the cathedral itself was consecrated. The cathedral's cornerstone had been blessed a year earlier, on October 2, 1966, and the diocesan house beside it had been finished in 1959.
Source: Wikipedia
- 1968
Catholicos Vasken I consecrates the first Armenian cathedral in North America
Built from a groundbreaking on May 2, 1965, at a cost of $3.5 million, St. Vartan was modeled on the Church of Saint Hripsime at Etchmiadzin in Armenia and designed by Walker O. Cain of Steinman, Cain & White. Vasken I, Catholicos of All Armenians, consecrated it on April 28, 1968, as the first cathedral of the Armenian Apostolic Church built in North America.
Source: Wikipedia
- 1973
The cathedral starts its annual One World Festival of Armenian culture
The cathedral serves as headquarters of the Eastern Diocese of the Armenian Church of America. Beginning in 1973 it hosted the One World Festival, an annual celebration of Armenian culture that ran for 16 years. In 1994 its dome, which rises 120 feet above the street, was regilded with 23-karat gold leaf.
Source: Wikipedia
- 1977
Sculptor Reuben Nakian's bronze Descent from the Cross is dedicated
St. Vartan Cathedral dedicates "Descent from the Cross," a bronze sculpture by American sculptor Reuben Nakian, adding to the cathedral complex's public art. The dedication comes less than a decade after the cathedral's 1968 consecration and follows the 1973 launch of its annual One World Festival celebrating Armenian culture.
Source: Wikipedia
- 1978
The park beside the cathedral is renamed St. Vartan Park
On April 23, 1978, the city dedicated the new name St. Vartan Park for the park north of the cathedral, which had been called St. Gabriel's Park. Its old namesake, St. Gabriel Church, had been demolished for the Queens-Midtown Tunnel approach. The City Council approved the change unanimously in April and Mayor Ed Koch signed it the following month.
Source: Wikipedia
- 1994
A $2.5 million renovation regilds the dome and adds granite blocks to the plaza
In 1994 the cathedral finished a .5 million renovation. Crews cleaned and repointed the facade, regilded the dome in 23-karat gold leaf and laid granite blocks in the plaza. Another multi-phase restoration was under way as of 2025.
Source: Wikipedia
- 2015
A genocide-centennial sculpture, Migrations, is added to the cathedral grounds
For the hundredth anniversary of the Armenian genocide, St. Vartan Cathedral adds a sculpture titled "Migrations" to its grounds. The addition follows earlier memorials at the cathedral, including six pear trees planted in 1976 to commemorate the genocide's victims.
Source: Wikipedia
- 2024
The dome is regilded and topped with a new copper cross
EverGreene Architectural Arts worked with Beyer Blinder Belle Architects and Nicholson & Galloway to restore the cathedral's exterior in 2024. The dome was regilded with 23.75-karat gold leaf and given a new copper cross, and the stone lettering and relief ornament on the south facade were restored. Nicholson & Galloway also repaired the roof and masonry.
Source: evergreene.com
Further reading
- St. Vartan Armenian CathedralWikipedia
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