By the initiative of the Armenian Apostolic Church, Diocese of Aleppo, the ground-blessing ceremony took place on 12 May 1985, on a piece of land which had been used as a burial site, concentration and death march camp, killing center and a site of execution during the genocide. Later, through the efforts of the Armenian community in Deir ez-Zor, a small chapel named after Saint Hripsime was built in the same place. The new memorial complex replaced this older structure.