The Armenian Church of Surb Astvatsatsin in Akkerman

The Armenian Church of the Dormition of the Holy Mother of God (Surb Astvatsatsin) in Akkerman (Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi, Odesa region, Ukraine) has survived from the Middle Ages, when a large Armenian community lived in the town. According to the source, the church is low because the Muslim authorities forbade building Christian churches higher than mosques. Over the centuries it was rebuilt and enlarged many times. Old wall paintings and medieval marble slabs (khachkars) with inscriptions survive on its walls, the earliest dating from the 10th century.

The church was active until 1940, then served as the base of an archaeological expedition, and in 2013 it was returned to the Armenian community. Also on the grounds is a Sarmatian tomb of the 3rd century AD, found on the eastern outskirts of the town.

The photograph shows a low white building among autumn trees, with four columns in front of the entrance.