Etchmiadzin Cathedral
Etchmiadzin Cathedral[a] (Armenian: Էջմիածնի մայր տաճար, romanized: Ēǰmiaçni mayr tač̣ar) is the mother church of the Armenian Apostolic Church, located in the city dually known as Etchmiadzin (Ejmiatsin) and Vagharshapat, Armenia.[b] It is usually considered the first cathedral built in ancient Armenia, and often regarded the oldest cathedral in the world.
Etchmiadzin Cathedral
Active, under renovation
Vagharshapat, Armavir Province, Armenia
Gregory the Illuminator (original)
301 (original building; traditional date)[1]
33 m (108 ft)[2]
30 m (98 ft)[2]
34 m (112 ft)[6]
Cultural
(ii) (iii)
2000 (24th session)
The original church was built in the early fourth century[12]—between 301 and 303 according to tradition—by Armenia's patron saint Gregory the Illuminator, following the adoption of Christianity as a state religion by King Tiridates III. It was built over a pagan temple, symbolizing the conversion from paganism to Christianity. The core of the current building was built in 483/4 by Vahan Mamikonian after the cathedral was severely damaged in a Persian invasion. From its foundation until the second half of the fifth century, Etchmiadzin was the seat of the Catholicos, the supreme head of the Armenian Church.
Although never losing its significance, the cathedral subsequently suffered centuries of virtual neglect. In 1441 it was restored as catholicosate and remains as such to this day.[13] Since then the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin has been the administrative headquarters of the Armenian Church. Etchmiadzin was plundered by Shah Abbas I of Persia in 1604, when relics and stones were taken out of the cathedral to New Julfa in an effort to undermine Armenians' attachment to their land. Since then the cathedral has undergone a number of renovations. Belfries were added in the latter half of the seventeenth century and in 1868 a sacristy (museum and room of relics) was constructed at the cathedral's east end.[2] Today, it incorporates styles of different periods of Armenian architecture. Diminished during the early Soviet period, Etchmiadzin revived again in the second half of the twentieth century, and under independent Armenia.[2]
As the center of Armenian Christianity, Etchmiadzin has been an important location in Armenia not only religiously, but also politically and culturally.[14] A major pilgrimage site, it is one of the most visited places in the country.[15] Along with several important early medieval churches located nearby, the cathedral was listed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2000.
Setting[edit]
The cathedral is located at the center of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, the headquarters of the Armenian Apostolic Church, in the town dually known as Vagharshapat or Etchmiadzin (Ejmiatsin). For much of its history, the complex around the cathedral, which includes the residence of the Catholicos (patriarch), was known as the Monastery of Etchmiadzin.[16][17][18] It was formerly surrounded by 30 ft (9.1 m) high[16][19] walls, made of brick[19][16] or cob,[20] and had eight circular towers (turrets).[17][21][22] Its external appearance led to 19th century visitors to widely compare it to a fortress.[21][17][16][23] The walled monastery, a vast quadrangular enclosure,[24] could have been accessed through four gates.[16]
The cathedral stood—and continues to stand—at the center of a courtyard (a quadrangle), which by Lynch's measurements in the 1890s, was 349 feet 6 inches (106.53 m) by 335 feet 2 inches (102.16 m), making it larger than the Trinity Great Court in Cambridge, England.[25] He suggested that it may have been at the time the largest quadrangle in the world.[25][26]
View of the cathedral from the south-east
Side view
The bell tower
The dome
Relics[edit]
The museum of the cathedral has numerous items on display, including manuscripts and religious objects. Among its notable exhibits are the Holy Lance (Spear), relics belonging to Apostles of Jesus and John the Baptist, and a fragment of Noah's Ark.[189][190]