A wall of the Armenian Church of the Archangels Gabriel and Michael in Feodosia collapsed

ArmInfo.The Armenian Church of the Archangels Gabriel and Michael, built in the 15th century in Feodosia, is deteriorating.  Following the recent collapse of the bell tower of this historic building, which is a federal  cultural heritage site, another corner has also collapsed. As reported by the local publication ForPost, citing local residents.

"The Church of the Archangels Gabriel and Michael in Feodosia  collapsed today," eyewitnesses wrote to the editor on March 15.  Footage sent by readers shows that the building has partially  collapsed: the corner, previously adorned by the bell tower that  collapsed in late February, is now reduced to a pile of rubble.   Georgy Akopyan, Chairman of the Crimean Armenian National-Cultural  Autonomy and a member of the Crimean State Council, confirmed the  collapse to ForPost.

"It happened on the night of March 15th. Fortunately, no one was  injured-there were no people there," the source said. He added that  the Armenian community had already secured funds for emergency  repairs.  However,  even during their inspection of the building,  specialists immediately noticed that there was no chance of saving  the wall under the bell tower, which later collapsed; the only option  was to rebuild it.

Meanwhile, according to the Information Center of the Investigative  Committee of Russia, Moscow has received a complaint from concerned  residents of Feodosia that the cultural heritage site of federal  significance was being poorly maintained. "The building has been in a  state of disrepair for a long time; cracks have formed in the walls,  and in February of this year, the bell tower collapsed. Despite the  existing violations, no measures are being taken to preserve the  building or organize repairs," the Investigative Committee's  information center statement reads.

In response, the Main Investigative Department at the Interregional  Investigative Committee launched  a criminal case to investigate the  reported incidents. Vladimir Terentyev, Head of the Main  Investigative Directorate at the Investigative Committee of Russia  for the Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, will report to  Moscow on the preliminary and final results of his subordinates'  work.

The Feodosia Prosecutor's Office is also investigating the  preservation of cultural heritage sites within the municipality. "It  has been established that, in violation of legal requirements, the  city administration is failing to take timely measures to preserve  the cultural heritage site, the 15th-century Church of St. Gabriel  and St. Michael, whose ownership is registered to the municipality,  as evidenced by the partial collapse of the bell tower this year,"  the supervisory authority's press service reported.

The Church of the Holy Archangels Gabriel and Michael was built in  1408. One of its parishioners was the famous artist Ivan Aivazovsky,  who married his first wife, Yulia Grevs, here in 1848. Throughout its  history, the religious building has undergone numerous structural  changes. During the 1927 earthquake, the narthex along the western  facade collapsed, but it was not restored. In 1962, the right half of  the western wall also collapsed. Several years later, it was restored  along with the narthex. At that time, craftsmen also renewed the  window and door frames, the roof, and repaired cracks. However, the  church has not seen any further major renovations.