Gregory the Illuminator is the patron saint and first official head of the Armenian Apostolic Church. He was a religious leader who converted Armenia from paganism to Christianity in 301.
The Catholicos of All Armenians is the chief bishop and spiritual leader of Armenia's national church, the Armenian Apostolic Church, and the worldwide Armenian diaspora. According to tradition, the apostles Saint Thaddeus and Saint Bartholomew brought Christianity to Armenia in the first century. Saint Gregory the Illuminator became the first Catholicos of All Armenians following the nation's adoption of Christianity as its official religion in 301 AD. The seat of the Catholicos, and the spiritual and administrative headquarters of the Armenian Church, is the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, located in the city of Vagharshapat.
The Armenian Apostolic Church is the national church of the Armenian people. Part of Oriental Orthodoxy, it is one of the most ancient Christian institutions. The Kingdom of Armenia was the first state to adopt Christianity as its official religion under the rule of King Tiridates III of the Arsacid dynasty in the early 4th century. According to tradition, the church originated in the missions of Apostles Bartholomew and Thaddeus of Edessa in the 1st century. St. Gregory the Illuminator was the first official primate of the church.
Armavir, is a province (marz) in the western part of Armenia. Located in the Ararat plain dominated by Mount Ararat from the south and Mount Aragats from the north, the province's capital is the town of Armavir while the largest city is Vagharshapat (Etchmiadzin). The province shares a 72 km (45 mi)-long border with Turkey to the south and west.
Etchmiadzin Cathedral is the mother church of the Armenian Apostolic Church, located in the city of Vagharshapat (Ejmiatsin), Armenia. According to most scholars it was the first cathedral built in ancient Armenia, and is often considered the oldest cathedral in the world.
Holy Savior Cathedral, commonly referred to as Ghazanchetsots, is an Armenian Apostolic cathedral in Shusha in Azerbaijan, in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh. It is the cathedra of the Diocese of Artsakh of the Armenian Apostolic Church. Standing 35 metres (115 ft) high, Ghazanchetsots is one of the largest Armenian churches in the world. A landmark of Shusha and the Karabakh region, and of Armenian cultural and religious identity, it is listed as cultural and historical monument of the breakaway Republic of Artsakh.
The Armenian Catholicosate of the Great House of Cilicia is an autocephalous Oriental Orthodox church. Since 1930, the Catholicosate of the Great House of Cilicia has been headquartered in Antelias, Lebanon. Aram I is the Catholicos of Cilicia since 1995.
Saint Hripsime Church is a seventh century Armenian Apostolic church in the city of Vagharshapat (Etchmiadzin), Armenia. It is one of the oldest surviving churches in the country. The church was erected by Catholicos Komitas to replace the original mausoleum built by Catholicos Sahak the Great in 395 AD that contained the remains of the martyred Saint Hripsime to whom the church is dedicated. The current structure was completed in 618 AD. It is known for its fine Armenian-style architecture of the classical period, which has influenced many other Armenian churches since. It was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site along with other nearby churches, including Etchmiadzin Cathedral, Armenia's mother church, in 2000.
Archbishop Mesrob II Mutafyan, or Mutafian, also known as Mesrop Mutafyan in Eastern Armenian transliteration, was the 84th Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople. The Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople is one of the four Sees of Armenian Apostolic Church and has an autocephalous status, accepting, on the other hand, spiritual supremacy of the Catholicos of Armenia and of all Armenians in Holy Echmiadzin.
Karekin I was a scholar of Armenian art and Catholicos of Cilicia of the Armenian Apostolic Church from 1943 to 1952.
Vagharshapat is the 4th-largest city in Armenia and the most populous municipal community of Armavir Province, located about 18 km (11 mi) west of the capital Yerevan, and 10 km (6 mi) north of the closed Turkish-Armenian border. It is commonly known as Ejmiatsin, which was its official name between 1945 and 1995. It is still commonly used colloquially and in official bureaucracy.
Church of the Holy Mother of God, is an Armenian Apostolic church located in the Sulaimaniyeh district of Aleppo, Syria. The church is active since its consecration on May 1 May 1983, by then-Catholicos of the Holy See of Cilicia Karekin II.
Avlabari is a neighborhood of Old Tbilisi on the left bank of the Kura River. The 11th-13th century chronicles mention it as Isani, which is now one of the larger municipal regions of Tbilisi. Nowadays one of the upcoming hip neighborhoods of the city, Avlabari is being extensively gentrified.
Khoren I Muradbekian was an Armenian Apostolic religious figure who served as Catholicos from 1932 until his murder in 1938. He previously served as locum tenens, between 1923 and 1932, in the latter years of and after the death of Catholicos Gevorg V, and bishop of Yerevan from 1910 to 1924.
Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, known in Armenian as simply the Mother See, is the governing body of the Armenian Apostolic Church. It is headquartered around Etchmiadzin Cathedral in Vagharshapat (Etchmiadzin), Armenia and is the seat of the Catholicos of All Armenians, the head of the church.
Rafayel "Rafo" Israyelian was a Soviet Armenian architect.
Etchmiadzin is the official monthly publication of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin of the Armenian Apostolic Church. It has been published since 1944 and is considered the continuation of the Ararat monthly that was established in 1868. It was published in Yerevan from 1944 to 1961 and has since been published in the city of Etchmiadzin (Vagharshapat). It publishes records of the Armenian Church and articles related to theology and Armenian studies.
Diocese of Armavir, is a diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church covering the Armavir Province of Armenia. The name is derived from the historic city of Armavir which served as the capital of the ancient Kingdom of Armenia between 331 and 210 BC.
Archbishop Sahag II Mashalian, also known as Sahak Mashalyan in Eastern Armenian transliteration became the 85th Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople in 2019.
