The Church of Saints Peter and Paul stood at the corner of Abovyan and Tumanyan streets in the Kentron district of Yerevan. It was a late medieval single-nave basilica of Armenian design, with no dome. It was originally built in the fifth or sixth century. A belfry stood at the entrance, and khachkars were built into the eastern and northern walls.
An earthquake badly damaged it in 1679, and it was largely rebuilt in the late seventeenth century, with khachkar inscriptions dated 1691 and 1692. It was restored in 1778 and in 1820.
The Soviet government demolished it in November 1930 to make room for the Moscow Cinema. Some wall fragments and wall paintings survive in Yerevan museums. In February 2010 the government approved a new church on the site, public protests followed, and the plan was later withdrawn because of limited space.
Comments