The Holy Trinity Church, Aleppo

An Armenian Catholic church in Midan, the Armenian quarter of Aleppo, about two and a half kilometres north of the citadel. Its round body is taken from Zvartnots Cathedral in Armenia; that seventh-century building is the one round exterior in medieval Armenian architecture. The church was consecrated in 1965. The date was not chosen at random: it was the fiftieth year after 1915, and most of the Armenian community of Aleppo had arrived in those years.

Getting there

Midan lies north of the Old City, and most of the Armenian churches of Aleppo are in this quarter. From the street the church is told apart by its round body and pink roof. You can walk from the Old City, but it is a long way; a shared minibus or a taxi is quicker.

What to see

Inside is a single round space, with arches turning above the columns and gilded capitals on them. Round windows high up, chandeliers below the ceiling. The pews are wooden. The building was renovated in 1990, which is why the surfaces look younger than the church is.

Why it is round

The architect was Pascal Paboudjian. Zvartnots was the model: a round shell on the outside, piers inside carrying the dome. Zvartnots itself is in ruins; the church in Midan is a standing reading of it.

What most people miss

The school in the yard. The Zvartnots primary school, known in Arabic as the al-Farah school, sits inside the church compound, teaches from kindergarten to ninth grade and belongs to the Armenian Catholic Archeparchy of Aleppo. This is not a building that opens only on service days; it works with the quarter around it.