Church of the Holy Virgin (Samarkand)

The first Armenian settlers appeared on the territory of modern Uzbekistan as early as the 15th century during the time of Tamerlane, who brought artisans from conquered Armenia to Samarkand. However, the annexation of Central Asia to Russia in the 19th century was more important for the growth of the number of Armenian immigrants.

The Russian Empire
In 1897, when only 149 Armenians lived in Samarkand itself: 123 men and 26 women, representatives of this small colony petitioned the military governor of the region to open a prayer house in the city. The request was respected: on October 31, 1898, Priest Gevorg Zakharyants received the appropriate permission.
There were few parishioners, and therefore the prayer house was located in a specially rented room. However, pretty soon the Armenians decided to build their own building and elected an authoritative board of trustees for this purpose. But, first of all, it was necessary to obtain the consent of the church authorities. The Samarqandians entered into correspondence with the leadership of the Astrakhan Armenian Diocesan Consistory, which had been subordinate to all the churches of Asian Russia since 1894.

However, despite the fact that the consistory quickly gave its consent and adopted a corresponding resolution, the Samarqandans waited a very long time for the written testimony of the Astrakhan diocese. Before waiting for this fundamental document, the energetic and assertive priest Ruben Bekgulyants, who replaced his predecessor Zakharyants as the spiritual pastor of the Armenians, appealed to the local authorities. Already on May 19, 1903, the Samarkand City Economic Administration agreed to sell the necessary land to the Armenians. A few days later, the relevant papers were submitted to Tashkent for approval by the Governor-General of the Turkestan region.