The old Virgin Mary Սուրբ Աստուածածին ( Sourp Asdvadzadzin ) cathedral in Victoria street , currently in the Turkish-occupied part of the walled city of Nicosia near Paphos Gate , also known as Notre Dame de Tyre or Tortosa , was originally a Benedictine/Carthusian Abbey built between 1308 – 1310 , on the site of an older church which had originally been built in 1116 and was destroyed by an earthquake in 1303 , where Armenian-Catholic nuns served . Sometime before 1504 it passed into the hands of the Armenian Prelature of Cyprus and it used to be the centre of the Armenian community of Cyprus until it was captured , along with the rest of the Armenian quarter , by Turkish Cypriots during the 1963 – 1964 troubles and occupied by Turkey during the 1974 Turkish invasion . After the Osmanian occupation of Cyprus in 1570 , it was temporarily used as a salt store , until it was returned to the Armenian community by a firman in May 1571 ; the Armenian ownership of the church was further confirmed by another firman in May 1614 . During the period of the Armenian Genocide , many persecuted Armenian refugees sought shelter on its verandah . It was located next to the old Prelature building , the Melikian-Ouzounian school , the Armenian Genocide monument and the Melikian family mansion . During the centuries it served the small yet prosperous Armenian community of Nicosia , the church underwent various modifications : in 1688 it was renovated , in 1788 the baptistery was constructed , in 1858 the arches of the northern verandah were built , in 1860 the belfry was constructed - amongst the first in Ottoman Cyprus , a donation by Hapetig Nevrouzian of Constantinople - , in 1884 it was restored , in 1904 the roof was re-built and a renovation took place , in 1945 the upper tier was erected for the choir ( by donation of Aram Ouzounian ) , in 1950 the belfry was restored , while in 1960-1961 the Antiquities Department installed a new floor - after removing the mediaeval tombstones that were previously covered by the carpets . The church celebrated on the nearest Sunday to 21 November , feast day of the Presentation of Mary
Armenian Genocide
Armenian Genocide
Armenian religion in Cyprus