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Armenia

Church Records

For information about records for non-Christian religions in Armenia, go to the Religious Records page.

Online Resources

• 1811-1934: Armenia Church Records at FamilySearch; images only (Not all localities available.)
• Eastern Armenia - Map of Churches and available records (Map incomplete. Also check availability via the FamilySearch Catalog.)

Historical Background

Video Tutorials:

• An Overview of Metrical books and Tax lists for Armenia (00:00-6:26)
• Հայաստանի չափաբերական մատյանների և հարկային ցուցակների ընդհանուր ակնարկ (00:00-6:32)

Armenia was the first nation to adopt Christianity as a state religion, an event traditionally dated to AD 301. The predominant religion in Armenia is Christianity. The roots of the Armenian Church go back to the 1st century. According to tradition, the Armenian Church was founded by two of Jesus' twelve apostles – Thaddaeus and Bartholomew – who preached Christianity in Armenia between AD 40–60. Because of these two founding apostles, the official name of the Armenian Church is Armenian Apostolic Church.

Based on information from the 2011 census, more than 95% of the population of Armenia belonged to the Armenian Apostolic Church.

Catholics also exist in Armenia, both Latin rite and Armenian rite Catholics.

Armenia is home to a Russian community of Molokans which practice a form of Spiritual Christianity.

How to Find Records

For more information about religious records made before 1917 (during the Russian Empire era) please see the Ėrivan Gubernia Religious Records page.

Video Tutorials

• Accessing Records for Armenia using the FamilySearch Catalog
• Հասանելի դարձնել Հայաստանի գրանցումները FamilySearch կայքի կատալոգի միջոցով

Digital Copies of Religious Records in the FamilySearch Catalog

Limited religious records for Armenia made after 1917 are available through FamilySearch. Watch for digitized copies of religious records to be added to the collection of the FamilySearch Library. Some records might have viewing restrictions, and can only be viewed at a FamilySearch Center near you, and/or by members of supporting organizations. To find records you will first need to know the town closest to where your ancestor lived that had a church or other religious institution:

1. Click on the applicable modern Armenian province

• Aragatsotn
• Ararat
• Armavir
• Geghark’unik’
• Kotayk'
• Loṛi
• Shirak
• Syunik'
• Tavush
• Vayotsʹ Dzor -- No records have been cataloged yet for Vayotsʹ Dzor province.

2. Then click on Places within and a list of towns will appear.

3. Click on your town if it appears, or the location which you believe was the parish or location of the religious institution which served your town or village.

4. Click on the "Church records" or "religious records" topic. Click on the blue links to specific record titles.

a. Some combination of these icons will appear at the far right of the listing for the record. . The magnifying glass indicates that the record is indexed. Clicking on the magnifying glass will take you to the index. Clicking on the camera will take you to an online digital copy of the records.

Please note that most of the religious records for Armenia have not yet been made available by town through the FamilySearch Catalog. If you do not see your town listed in the catalog using the above instructions, use the instructions below to see if records for the town of interest are available.

This collection is primarily for Armenian Apostolic Church records, but also includes some records for other religious denominations such as Armenian Catholics and Russian Orthodox

1. Use the Locality List for Armenian Parish Registers, listed by historic name and former Russian Empire jurisdictions. Partially in Russian.

2. Use the fond, opis, and item number(s) (see the two far-right columns from the link above) to locate the records in the FamilySearch catalog:

• State Historical Archive of Armenia: Fond 47 or Fond 62
• State Historical Archive of Armenia: Fond 53 or Fond 357. (Example: fond 53, opis 2, file 109 = Ֆ: 53՝ ց: 2՝ մ: 109)

The red link in the FS catalog to the digital records is incomplete. Scroll to the list of microfilms to view the digital images.

Armenian Apostolic Church

The Armenian Apostolic Church is split into several dioceses. A list of the current diocese and their contact information can be found here.
See also the article Finding your Ancestors in Armenian Apostolic Church Records on the FamilySearch Blog.