This is a former church that is now a sport facility. I took a look inside and it looked like a comfortable playing ground. They were preparing for some basketball, I think.

It is the former Armenian ‘Surp Astvadzadzin’ church (‘Mother of God’; Turkish: Meryemana), (re)built in the 19th century. It is located in the Kiçikapı neighbourhood (southwest of the Hunat Hatun Complex).

According to 1914 Ottoman census of population there were over 50.000 Armenian living in Kayseri and his surroundings (which corresponds to about one third of the actual province). According to census carried out by the Armenian Patriarchate between 1901-1902, it was identified that there were (in the same area) 42 Armenian Schools with 3795 male and 1140 female students and 125 teachers. In the Kayseri city center there were at that time three churches along with schools belonging to Orthodox Armenian community. Nowadays only one of those subsists: the Surp Kirkor Lusavoric Church; from its 130 households in 1965, the Armenian community of Kayseri has fallen to just a handful, due to constant emigration to Istanbul and possibly abroad.

Correspondent: J.M.Criel, Antwerpen.
Sources: Websites of ‘kayserikilisesi.org’ & ‘gezistan.blogspot.com’ .