Etchmiadzin Cathedral
Mother church of the Armenian Apostolic Church, founded in the early 4th century and UNESCO-listed.
Tradition holds that Gregory the Illuminator founded the church between 301 and 303, after a vision in which Christ struck the ground to mark the spot; the name means the place where the Only-Begotten descended. The present cross-in-square plan with four free-standing piers dates largely from a rebuilding in the 480s under Vahan Mamikonian. Later centuries added the bell tower of 1658 over the west entrance, the rotundas above the other three arms, and the sacristy behind the east apse.
The interior carries wall paintings begun by Naghash Hovnatan in the eighteenth century and continued by his descendants. Adjoining rooms hold the Treasury Museum, whose relics include the Holy Lance and a fragment said to come from Noah's Ark. UNESCO inscribed the cathedral and the nearby churches of Vagharshapat, together with the site of Zvartnots, in 2000. A six-year structural restoration ended with the cathedral's reconsecration on 29 September 2024.
Highlights
- Cross-in-square core dating from the rebuilding of the 480s
- Bell tower of 1658 and later rotundas over the arms
- Wall paintings by the Hovnatanian family of artists
- Treasury Museum with the Holy Lance and other relics
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