Armenian Catholic Church

The Armenian Catholic shrine used to stand in the very heart of the old city center. Its demolition in 1965 only followed those of Saint John Nepomuk in the city harbor, and the Jovanovska Church in the so-called Jovanovski kraj, the area where the Social Security Office stands today. The church was built by first Armenians who had come to Petrovaradinski Šanac ('Petrovaradin Trench') from Belgrade in 1739, together with Greeks, Germans, Aromanians and Albanians. Traditionally, their main occupation was banking and finance. Due to the fact they were primarily Catholics, Armenians culturally inclined more towards western influences. Their church was dedicated to St Peter and Paul, and not far from its former location one can still find the monumental marble tomb of the Čenazis. By the mid-19th century, the Čenazi noble family, as well as numerous other Armenians of Novi Sad, had already started assimilating and disappearing. The church had suffered serious damage in the 1849 bombardment, only to be later reconstructed by Marija Trandafil Popović.