Where there was the beginning, there will be the end: The Second Coming

You will visit the Church of the Holy Mother of God in Areni, the fortress of Khor Virap, St. Gregory the Illuminator Cathedral.

37. The Church of the Holy Mother of God in Areni

The Church of the Holy Virgin is located in the Vayots Dzor region of Armenia in the village of Areni on the left bank of the Arpa River. According to the inscription on the western wall of the church, the church was built by Archbishop Hovhannes Orbelian in 1321 and architect Momik. It is a rising skyward church with harmonious proportions and a centralized structure.

The Church of the Holy Mother of God is very harmonious in proportions. One of the creations of the architect Momik is the magnificent bas-relief of the Holy Mother of God with baby Christ, preserved at the western entrance to the church. The Virgin sitting on the throne is depicted in a realistic image - in the clothes of that time. Near the church there are the ruins of the castle Tarsaich Orbelian, and around the church there are the stones and gravestones of the XIV-XVII centuries.

38. Khor Virap

Khor Virap is a fortress-monastery of the XVII century in Vostan province, Ayaratat district of Greater Hayk, on one of the hills of the historical city of Artashat.

Virap is a deep hole with poisonous snakes and insects, where prisoners were thrown. The hole has a diameter of 4.5 m and a depth of 6.5 m. According to Agafangel, King Trdat III the Great, during the exile of Christians, threw Gregory the Illuminator into dungeon of Artashat, where he was imprisoned for 14 years. After being set free and having the king's support, the Enlightener proclaimed Christianity as the state religion

Since the XIII century, Khor Virap besides being an important sacred place has become an all-Armenian center of education and science. In 1255 Vardan Areveltsi founded a secondary school in a monastery.

39. St. Gregory the Illuminator Cathedral

The cathedral was built on the initiative of the Catholicos of All Armenians Vazgen the First to the 1700th anniversary of the proclamation of Christianity as a state religion in Armenia. On the site of the church building the patriarch established a monument with his own hands. The church complex consists of three churches: the cathedral (the main church), the chapel of the holy king Trdat III and the chapel of the holy queen Ashkhen.

At the entrance to the church there are bell-towers with more than 30 arches and a porch. In the porch of the cathedral there are the relics of Grigor the Illuminator, which Garegin II brought from the church of St. Gregory of Armenia in Naples.