CNN Turk news agency of Turkey, informs that the bell, which is made of bronze and weighs 100 kilograms, prepared in Moscow and intended for the belfry being built at Saint Giragos Armenian Church in Diyarbakir, Turkey, has arrived in the city.
The source adds that it will ring once again in the Armenian church after 97 years.
Note, Saint Giragos Church was left to its fate after 1980, but Diyarbakir Armenians,who now live in Istanbul, established the Saint Giragos Fund in order to restore the church. The Fund paid 70 % of the restoration costs, worth $2.5 million dollars, and the Diyarbakir City Hall paid the remaining 30 %.
The belfry of the Church, which is the largest Christian cathedral in the Middle East, was destroyed by a lightning in 1913. Subsequently, the local Armenians built a new belfry, but the Turks destroyed the belfry with cannons solely because it was higher than the minarets of the surrounding mosques.
The Church’s restoration, which commenced nearly 2.5 years ago, is coming to an end, and the next Holy Liturgy will be celebrated at the completely-renovated monastic complex on November 4.