The Armenian Prelature of Cyprus was established in 973 by Catholicos Khatchig I. Historically, the Prelature has been under the jurisdiction of the Catholicosate of the Great House of Cilicia, while today it is the oldest theme that falls under its jurisdiction. Since 2014 the Prelate, a Catholicosal Vicar General, has been Archbishop Nareg Alemezian. The parish priest in Nicosia is Fr. Momik Habeshian, while the parish priest in Larnaca and Limassol is Fr. Mashdots Ashkarian. For centuries, the Prelature building was located within the Armenian compound in Victoria street in walled Nicosia; when that area was taken over by Turkish-Cypriot extremists in 1963-1964, the Prelature was temporarily housed in Aram Ouzounian street and, later on, in Kyriakos Matsis street in Ayios Dhometios. Thanks to the efforts of Bishop Zareh Aznavorian and with financial aid from the Evangelical Church of Westphalia, the new Prelature building was erected in 1983, next to the Virgin Mary church and the Nareg school in Nicosia, by architects Athos Dikaios & Alkis Dikaios; it was officially inaugurated on 4 March 1984, during the pastoral visit of Catholicos Karekin II. By initiative of Archbishop Varoujan Hergelian, in 1998 the basement of the building was renovated and the "Vahram Utidjian" Hall was formed; previously a store room, it became a reality from the proceeds of the auction in 1994 of the art collection that Vahram Utidjian had donated to the Prelature in 1954. It was inaugurated on 3 February 1999 by Catholicos Aram I; numerous charity, communal and cultural events take place there. The Prelature's consistory houses a collection of ecclesiastical relics, some of which were previously in the old Virgin Mary church or the Magaravank.
What is the the oldest theme?
The Armenian Prelature of Cyprus