Vagharshapat
Around 18 kilometres west of Yerevan, is the satellite city (suburb) of Vagharshapat. Our tour promised us two cathedrals.
Both were interesting, for entirely different reasons.
Zvartnots Cathedral
This ancient Christian cathedral, now mostly in ruins, has been sufficiently restored to become an icon of the region. The approach from the highway puts Ararat directly behind it.
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The ruins of Zvartnots Cathedral seen looking South and North
and those of Roman Baths (Byzantine) behind
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According to Wikipedia:
Zvartnots was built at a time when much of Armenia had just recently been overrun by the Muslim Arabs who were progressively occupying the Sasanian Persia/Iran of which Armenia was a part at the time. Construction of the cathedral began in 643 under the guidance of Catholicos Nerses III (nicknamed Shinogh or the Builder). Dedicated to St. Gregory, it was located at the place where a meeting between King Trdat III and Gregory the Illuminator was supposed to have taken place.
Following the Arab occupation of Dvin and the intensifying wars between the Byzantine and Arab armies on the former's eastern borders, Nerses transferred the patriarchal palace of the Catholicos from Dvin to Zvartnots.
The exterior church design, featuring basket capitals with Ionic volute mounts, eagle capitals, and vine scroll friezes reveals the influence of Syrian and northern Mesopotamian architecture.
Zvartnots remained standing until the end of the tenth century, but historical sources are silent as to the cause of its collapse.
The ruins of Zvartnots remained buried until its remains were uncovered at the start of the twentieth century. The site was excavated between 1901 and 1907 under the direction of vardapet Khachik Dadyan, uncovering the foundations of the cathedral as well as the remains of the Catholicos palace and a winery. The excavations furthermore revealed that Zvartnots stood on the remnants of structures that dated back to reign of the Urartian king Rusa II.
Close by there is the more modern Etchmiadzin Cathedral, that was unfortunately closed for renovation, but bearded men in ecclesiastical garb roam about the extensive precinct. Some of the group gravitated to the gift shop.
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The Etchmiadzin Cathedral precinct - bearded men in ecclesiastical garb - and Ararat again