Planning and development A campaign to build a cathedral was first launched by the Armenian Church of America's Diocesan Assembly in 1926, but the project fell victim to the
Wall Street crash of 1929 and
Great Depression. At the Diocesan Assembly in 1942, Archbishop
Karekin Hovsepian, the
primate of the church's Eastern Diocese, called for the creation of a fund to build a cathedral, offices for the diocese, and a cultural center. Hovsepian wrote an editorial in the August issue of
Hayastanyaitz Yegeghetzi that outlined the need for a cathedral and residences for the primate and other priests. It was the first cathedral of the Armenian Apostolic Church to be constructed in North America. A campaign to raise $1,000,000 for the project was announced by Bishop Nersoyan in 1947. At the time, the Armenian
prelates were residing at the parish house for
St. Peter's Episcopal Church on West 20th Street. A site for the cathedral was selected near the former
Armenian quarter on the
east side of Manhattan at the intersection of Second Avenue and East 34th Street, a location which had reasonable land prices and convenient access to the
Queens–Midtown Tunnel. Most of this site was purchased from
Columbia University, as the buildings for its
College of Dental and Oral Surgery had been torn down to make way for the new roadway providing access to the tunnel. The initial property acquisitions also included a building at 630 Second Avenue, which was remodeled to serve as the temporary home of the primate and the diocesan offices. The first building constructed on the site was the diocesan house, which would serve as the offices for the diocese and the residence of the primate. The cornerstone for the new building was blessed and dedicated by Archbishop Sion Manougian on January 24, 1959, following a celebration of the
divine liturgy held at St. Gregory the Illuminator Church. The $300,000 brick and stone structure was designed by Zareh Sourian of the architectural firm of
Eggers & Higgins. The diocesan house was completed in November 1959. In May 1963, Archbishop Manougian announced that the architectural firm of Steinmann, Cain & White had been retained to design the cathedral and cultural center on the remainder of the site, which occupied a total area of . A groundbreaking ceremony for the cathedral was held on May 2, 1965, and the cornerstone was blessed by Archbishop
Torkom Manoogian on October 2, 1966. The three-story Armenian cultural center was dedicated on October 21, 1967. On April 28, 1968, the $3.5 million cathedral was consecrated by Vasken I in the name of
St. Vartan. Beginning in 1973, the cathedral hosted an annual One World Festival to showcase Armenian culture. The event was co-sponsored with the city and ran for 16 years. Six pear trees were planted along Second Avenue on
Martyrs' Day in 1976 as a memorial to the
Six Provinces lost in the
Armenian genocide. In 1978, the public park located on the block on the north side of the site was renamed
St. Vartan Park after the cathedral. The park was previously named St. Gabriel's Park after the nearby
St. Gabriel Church, but its original namesake had been demolished to make way for the Queens–Midtown Tunnel. The park was also used as a venue for the One World Festival. A $2.5 million renovation of the cathedral was completed in 1994, which included cleaning and
repointing of the façade, regilding of the dome with 23-karat
gold leaf, and the installation of granite blocks in the plaza. As of 2025, the cathedral is undergoing another multi-phase restoration project. ==Architecture==