Armenia Church Records

For information about records for non-Christian religions in Armenia, go to the Religious Records page.

Historical Background
Armenia was the first nation to adopt Christianity as a state religion, an event traditionally dated to AD 301. The predominant religion in Armenia is Christianity. The roots of the Armenian Church go back to the 1st century. According to tradition, the Armenian Church was founded by two of Jesus' twelve apostles – Thaddaeus and Bartholomew – who preached Christianity in Armenia between AD 40–60. Because of these two founding apostles, the official name of the Armenian Church is Armenian Apostolic Church. Over 93% of Armenian Christians belong to the Armenian Apostolic Church.

Catholics also exist in Armenia, both Latin rite and Armenian rite Catholics.

Armenia is home to a Russian community of Molokans which practice a form of Spiritual Christianity.

Information Recorded in the Records
Different denominations, different time periods, and practices of different record keepers will effect how much information can be found in the records. This outline will show the types of details which are typically found:

Baptisms
In Catholic and Armenian Apostolic records, children were usually baptized a few days after birth, and therefore, the baptism record proves date of birth. Other religions baptized at other points in the member's life. Baptism registers typically give:

Marriages
Marriage registers can give:

Burials
Burial registers often give:

Digital Copies of Church Records in the FamilySearch Catalog
Watch for digitized copies of church records to be added to the collection of the FamilySearch Library. Some records might have viewing restrictions, and can only be viewed at a Family History Center near you, and/or by members of supporting organizations. To find records:
 * a. Click on the records of Armenia.
 * b. Click on the subject "Armenia - Church records". Click on the blue links to specific record titles.
 * Or
 * b. Click on Places within Armenia and a list of towns will appear.
 * 1. Click on your town if it appears, or the location which you believe was the parish which served your town or village.
 * 2. Click on the "Church records" topic. Click on the blue links to specific record titles.
 * c. Some combination of these icons will appear at the far right of the listing for the record. FHL icons.png. The magnifying glass indicates that the record is indexed. Clicking on the magnifying glass will take you to the index. Clicking on the camera will take you to an online digital copy of the records.

'''Please note that most of the church records for Armenia have not yet been made available by town through the Family History Library Catalog. If you do not see your town listed in the catalog using the above instructions, use the instructions below to see if records for the town of interest are available.''' This collection is primarily for Armenian Apostolic Church records, but also includes some records for other religious denominations such as Armenian Catholics and Russian Orthodox

1. Use the Locality List for Armenian Parish Registers, listed by historic name and former Russian Empire jurisdictions. Partially in Russian.

2. Use the fond, opis, and item number(s) (see the two far-right columns from the link above) to locate the records in the Family History Library catalog: The red link in the FHL catalog to the digital records is incomplete. Scroll to the list of microfilms to view the digital images.
 * State Historical Archive of Armenia: Fond 47 or Fond 62
 * State Historical Archive of Armenia: Fond 53 or Fond 357. (Example: fond 53, opis 2, file 109 = Ֆ: 53՝ ց: 2՝ մ: 109)

Historical Background
As of 1873, the Armenian Apostolic Church was by far the most common Christian religion in the former Ėrivan province of the Russian Empire. Members of this faith lived in all districts of the Ėrivan province.

The forms below reflect a typical church record form for the Armenian Apostolic Church, but there will be some variation in column headers over time.

Baptism Record Form
See an example from 1895, Սուրբ Հակոբ parish in Davalu

Marriage Record form
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSMV-N729-Y?i=23&cat=2526331

Burial Record Form
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSMD-NXKQ?i=227&cat=2526331

Armenian Catholics
The Armenian Catholic church in the Transcaucasian region had four deaneries within the Diocese of Tiraspol:
 * Aleksandrapolʹ (previously part of the Ėrivan province of Russia, now in Armenia)
 * Akhaltsykh-Atskhur (previously part of the Tiflis province of Russia, now in Georgia)
 * Akhalkalak (previously part of the Tiflis province of Russia, now in Georgia)
 * Lori (previously part of the Tiflis province of Russia, now split between Georgia and Armenia)

This diocese was originally created on 3 July 1848 and was called the Diocese of Kherson until 1852. Prior to 1848 the area belonged to the Archdiocese of Mohilev.

Armenian Catholics in the Ėrivan province of the Russian Empire lived primarily in the Aleksandrapolʹ district (uyezd).

Roman Catholics
Roman Catholics in Armenia belonged to the Tiflis deanery which was also in the Diocese of Tiraspol.

Based on information from 1873, Roman Catholics in the Ėrivan province of the Russian Empire lived primarily in the Sharur-Daralagyoz district (uyezd).

Historical Background
Article: The Molokans in Armenia

The Family History Library does not have religious records for these groups, but tax lists for some of their settlements within the Ėrivan province of the Russian Empire are available. See village lists on the Armenia Taxation page.

As of 1873:


 * Doukhobors lived in the Nakhichevan district of Ėrivan province.
 * Molokans lived in the following district (listed by concentration): Novobayazet district, Aleksandrapol district, Ėrivan district, and Nakhichevan district within Ėrivan province.
 * Pryguny lived primarily in the Aleksandrapol and Novobayazet districts.
 * Subbotniks lived in Novobayazet district with a few in the districts of Aleksandrapol and Nakhichevan.

Historical Background
As of 1873, those of the Russian Orthodox faith who lived in Ėrivan province of the Russian Empire lived primarily in the districts of Ėrivan and Aleksandrapolʹ. A few also lived in the districts of Novobayazet, Ėchmiadzin, and Nakhichevan.