Vagharshapat
Royal city of Armenia in the plain of Ararat. Agathangelos sets here the martyrdom of Hripsime and her companions and Gregory’s vision of the church to be built, by tradition on the site of the cathedral of Etchmiadzin.
Vagharshapat lies west of modern Yerevan. Agathangelos, writing in the fifth century, calls it the residence of the Armenian kings and makes it the scene of the central events of the conversion: the nun Hripsime and her companions took refuge there and were put to death there (Agathangelos, History 2.6, 2.13–15). In the vision he attributes to Gregory the Illuminator, a column of fire topped by a cross of light stands in the middle of the city near the palace, and Gregory is told to build a temple to God on that spot (Agathangelos, History 3.6, 3.13). The king and people then walled the place and set up a cross there (Agathangelos, History 3.17). The cathedral of Etchmiadzin, the seat of the head of the Armenian Apostolic Church, stands in the town today.
What happened here
- AD 301 (traditional) or c. 314, traditional dateArmenia Adopts Christianity
King Tiridates of Armenia, by the account of the Armenian church, is converted by Gregory the Illuminator and brings his court and people to baptism. The Armenian church dates this to 301; the story was written down more than a century later.
Primary sources
History of the Armenians
- Agathangelos, History 2.6, 2.13–15livius.org
- Agathangelos, History 3.6, 3.13livius.org
- Agathangelos, History 3.17livius.org