Gyulagaraki Church

Gyulagaraki Church, built in 1874 in the village of Gyulagarak, stands today without its roof or west wall — the damage dates to the 1988 earthquake that hit this part of Lori. The church's original name was never recorded, so it's known simply by the village.

Before the quake, the building had already been through worse than time alone would bring. During the Soviet period it was repurposed as a wheat store, and a fire broke out inside during that stretch, weakening the walls well ahead of 1988.

What's left now is a roofless shell missing its western side — a building that has taken damage twice over, first from fire, then from the ground shaking beneath it.

The church stands in Gyulagarak village, in the Stepanavan area of Lori, about 88 km north of Yerevan as the crow flies.