The Armenian Church

The Armenian Church is a small, beautiful oasis on Armenian Street in George Town, the most congested part of Chennai. From the street you see steps up, and a wall, and a door. Enter the door and you are in a garden. There is a very attractive bell tower, and the main church off to the side.

There was once a prosperous Armenian community in Chennai, but there are, I think, only two Armenians left now. (There's a larger, but still tiny, community in Calcutta.) Here's an article on Armenians in Chennai, which includes pictures of the church and the bell tower which are actually informative, unlike mine.

Here's a watercolour of Armenians in Chennai, c. 1790, from the British Library.

And an article about the church and its six bells from The Hindu, with a picture of the bell tower.

And here are my pictures:

inside the bell tower

inside the bell tower, looking up

detail of a gravestone

a very common sight in Chennai