page_title: Stepanakert
section_title: Demographics and religion
hierarchical_section_title: Stepanakert / Demographics and religion
caption_attribution_description: Новая церковь, Степанакерт
context_page_description: Stepanakert, Khankendi and originally called Vararakn, is the capital and the largest city of the de facto Republic of Artsakh. The Republic has no international recognition, being deemed part of the Republic of Azerbaijan by all countries. As of 2015, the population of Stepanakert is 55,200.
context_section_description: The late-19th-century church of Saint George was destroyed in the 1930s to build the Stepanakert Drama Theatre. Throughout the rest of the Soviet era, there were no traditional churches in Stepanakert, although most of the population of the city were members of the Armenian Apostolic Church.
  Until 2019, the church of Surp Hakob (or Saint James) opened in 2007 was the only church in the city. It was financed by benefactor Nerses Yepremian from Los Angeles. The church was consecrated on 9 May 2007, in honor of the 15th anniversary of the liberation of Shushi.
  The construction of the Holy Mother of God Cathedral was launched on 19 July 2006. The cost of the project was expected to be around US$2 million and the architect of the church is Gagik Yeranosyan. However, the construction process was slow due to a lack of financial resources. The inauguration of the church was expected to take place in September 2016. Construction finished and the church was opened in 2019.
  There is a small community of Armenian Evangelicals with around 500 members. The Evangelical community supports many schools, hospitals and other institutions through the help of the Armenian Diaspora.
caption: Saint James' Church
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