Standing largely intact since its construction, the church has been widely admired for its architecture and proportions. Considered a masterpiece of classical Armenian architecture, it has influenced many other Armenian churches. It features innovations, namely trapezoidal niches and conical squinches, containing their first dated examples, and the only example in Armenia of turrets at the base of the drum serving as anchors and buttresses. The two inscriptions left by Komitas constitute the second-earliest extant Armenian-language inscriptions. The church was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site along with other nearby churches, including Etchmiadzin Cathedral, Armenia's mother church, in 2000.
Setting and status
The church is located on a small natural elevation on the eastern outskirts of the town of Vagharshapat (Etchmiadzin), adjacent to the main road connecting it to the capital Yerevan.[16] Standing on an open plain,[17][18] it was built outside the historic walls of ancient Vagharshapat.[19] It is now within an urban environment due to the expansion of the town.[20] Several major historic churches are situated in its vicinity, namely the cathedral of Etchmiadzin, its contemporary Saint Gayane Church, the ruined 7th century Zvartnots Cathedral, and the 17th century Shoghakat Church.[21]
An aerial view of the complex
An aerial view Vagharshapat and its churches (see locations marked). Hripsime is on top right corner.
The church and the surrounding area cover an area of 6.2 hectares (15 acres) and is property of the Armenian Apostolic Church (Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin).[21] Recognized as a national monument by the Soviet Armenian government, this designation was reaffirmed by the government of Armenia in 2002.[22] Joint councils consisting of the Ministry of Culture and the Armenian Apostolic Church are responsible for regulating its conservation, rehabilitation, and usage.[21] In 2000 the UNESCO inscribed St. Hripsime and the four aforementioned churches as a World Heritage Site.[21] The protected area covering St. Hripsime and Shoghakat and their vicinity is 25.3 hectares (63 acres).[21]
It is one of Armenia's most visited monuments and a popular wedding venue, hosting 472 wedding ceremonies and 536 baptisms in 2013.[23][24] It is often visited by Armenian leader and foreign dignitaries.[25]
Background and foundation
Pre-Christian remains
Excavations conducted inside the church in 1958–59 uncovered three black tuff fragments of an ornamented Ioniccornice placed upside down beneath the supporting columns.[26][27] These fragments were immediately identified as belonging to a pre-Christian Hellenistic structure—possibly a temple—with stylistic similarities to the cornice of the Garni Temple.[30]Alexander Sahinian, who oversaw the excavations following the initial discovery, argued that a pagan temple[b] must have existed at or near the location.[15][29] Some scholars maintain that the fragments indicate the presence of a pagan temple on the site,[19] while others propose that they came from a pagan building elsewhere in Vagharshapat and were later reused in the church's foundations.[36][37] The excavated sections were covered with protective glass for public display.[28][37]
Early Christian structures
The late 4th century martyrium excavated in the late 1970s
According to the traditional account recorded by Agathangelos, Hripsime, a Roman virgin, and her companions (including Gayane), fled to Armenia to escape persecution by the Roman emperor Diocletian. In Armenia, Hripsime was tortured and killed by king Tiridates III after she rejected his advances. Following Tiridates's conversion to Christianity in the early fourth century (dated 301 or 314 AD), he and Gregory the Illuminator built a martyrium at the site of her martyrdom as an act of remorse.[38] Agathangelos recounts that Tiridates brought enormous stones from Mount Ararat to construct the martyriums of Hripsime and companions.[39][40] Considered one of the earliest Christian martyriums,[14] it is believed to have been partially buried underground, with an aboveground canopy.[19][c] It was destroyed by Sasanian king Shapur II and his Armenian Zoroastrian ally Meruzhan Artsruni c.363,[46] along with Etchmiadzin Cathedral and other Christian sites.[47]
In 395, Catholicos Sahak Partev built a new chapel-martyrium, which the later historian Sebeos described as "too low and dark".[50] Archaeological excavations in 1976–78, led by Raffi Torosyan and Babken Arakelyan,[51] uncovered the foundations of a small single-nave basilica around 10m (33ft) east of the current church, which is likely the remains of this late fourth century structure.[52][53][d] Notably, Christian-style burials were also unearthed, which both scholars and the Armenian Church identified as Hripsime and her companions.[60] A letter from The Book of Letters, dated 608, mentions a priest named Samuel of St. Hripsime, indicating that the chapel was an active church at the time.[61]
Current church and Komitas's inscriptions
The inscription of Catholicos Komitas on the western façade,[62] photographed by Garegin Hovsepian in 1913.[63][64] The same inscription as seen from ground level, partly concealed by the belfry.
Komitas's second inscription in the apse
The seventh century historian Sebeos recounts that CatholicosKomitas (r.615–628) demolished the small martyrium and constructed the present church in the 28th year of the reign of the Sassanian king Khosrow II (r.590–628), which has been calculated as the year 618,[47][48] a dating which has been near-unanimously accepted.[69][e] Vagharshapat was under Roman (Byzantine) rule at the time.[73] Two inscriptions attest to Komitas's role in its construction.[74] A number of scholars maintain that Komitas, also a hymnographer, may have been the architect of the church.[79]Murad Hasratyan suggests that his identification as "builder" in one of the inscriptions indicates that Komitas himself was the architect.[80][81] One of the most important monuments of medieval Armenia,[82] it represented a "major construction of real artistic significance".[73]
The church contains two engraved inscriptions in the erkat‘agiruncial script[83] recording Catholicos Komitas's role in its construction.[84][f] These inscriptions, conventionally dated to 618[87][g] and 628 respectively,[75][88] are the second oldest known Armenian inscriptions after the Tekor Church inscription (c.478–490).[h]
The first inscription (202 × 60cm) is located on the western wall's exterior,[94] now largely concealed by the belfry.[95][66][i] Recording Komitas's personal responsibility for the construction,[74] it reads: "I Komitas sacristan of saint Hṙi{w}p‘simē was summoned to the throne of saint Grēgor. I built the temple of these holy martyrs of Christ."[j][97]
The second inscription (150 × 35cm)[93][98] appears on the eastern apse's interior—behind the altar.[100][k] It was revealed under plaster during restoration works in 1898, when it was lightly damaged.[75][93] Imploring Christ to recognize Komitas's labors,[74] it reads: "Christ God, remember Komitas kat‘ołikos of Armenia, the builder of saint Hṙip‘simē".[l][101]
Later history
A 1302 inscription on the lintel of the western entrance
Decline and major restoration
Not much is known about the church's history in the medieval period. The tenth century Catholicos Hovhannes Draskhanakerttsi described it as a wonderful and splendid structure.[102] Inscriptions indicate that it was intermittently active, including one from 1296 recording the release of the monastery from tithe and other taxes on cotton by local rulers, and another from 1302 on the lintel of the western entrance recording the donation of 1,000 silver coins.[103]
Arakel of Tabriz, a contemporary, recounted the state of the church in the early 17th century and provided details of its restoration (along with St. Gayane) by Catholicos Pilipos (r.1633–1655).[107][83] Following the deportation of Armenians to Iran by Shah Abbas in 1604–05, it was "without inhabitants and fences".[108] Abandoned and defenseless, the church was also heavily dilapidated by that time.[19][67][109] During periods of neglect, neatly cut facing stones were quarried from the church.[110] Arakel recounts that it had no doors, no altar, the roof and walls had crumbled, and the foundations were shaken and dug up, while the interior was full of manure as livestock were driven into the church.[108] According to Arakel, two Catholic Augustinian missionaries stole Hripsime's relics in 1610, provoking outrage among Armenians. With the help of Shah Abbas I of Persia, the relics were recovered and returned.[81][57][111]
The restoration of Hripsime under Catholicos Pilipos "took three years, from start to finish, for the work began in the [Armenian] year 1100 (1651) and was finished in the year 1102 (1653) with great expenditures and tremendous labor."[112][49][n] This restoration encompassed the pediments, the roof of the dome, and saw the construction of a porch/portico or an open narthex (gavit) in front of the western entrance (upon which a belfry was added in 1790).[99][114][19][o]
A 1783 watercolor of the churches of Etchmiadzin by Mikhail Matveevich Ivanov. Then recently fortified St. Hripsime, on the upper left, and its architectural details are accurately reproduced.
Since its restoration in 1653, the church had a regular congregation.[119] Subsequent Catholicoi, Eghiazar (r.1681–1691) and Nahapet (r.1691–1705), further contributed to its revitalization by adding auxiliary buildings and sponsoring manuscript production.[120] Six inscriptions, from the 1720s, engraved on its walls record the donations of salt, oil, incense, rice, candles, wine.[121][p] In the 17th and 18th centuries, monks at St. Hripsime were provided bread and clothing from the monastery of Echmiadzin, but the monastery also possessed its own farmland and livestock.[124]
The portico and the belfry, added in 1653 and 1790, respectively.
Later additions and renovations
Remnants of the cob walls surrounding the monastery built in 1776
Catholicos Simeon I of Yerevan (r.1763–1780) raised a new cross on its dome in 1765,[55] and fortified the monastery in 1776 with a cob perimeter-wall, along with corner towers and an arched entrance built out of stone on the northern side.[99][125][126] In 1790, Catholicos Ghukas Karnetsi (r.1780–1799) added a rotunda-shaped belfry on the porch/narthex built by Pilipos in 1653.[99][114][q]
In 1894–95, under Catholicos Mkrtich Khrimian (r.1893–1907), a two-story residence for the monks was built inside the monastery walls, and the eastern and southern sections of the cob walls were replaced with stone walls.[99][129] The church itself underwent considerable renovation in 1898.[93][130][19]
Early Soviet period
A February 1921 decree issued by Ashot Hovhannisian, Soviet Armenia's People's Commissar for Education, nationalized the church[131] and placed it under the Cultural-Historical Institute, but it was returned to the Mother See in January 1922.[132] In 1926, vardapetKhachik Dadyan, abbot of the monastery, undertook independent investigation in its grounds without government authorization leading to his expulsion and imprisonment.[133][134] Dadyan had excavated around its foundations, causing significant damage by exposing them to rainwater and snow.[133] Part of the facing stones collapsed in 1932.[133] The church remained endangered for a decade until restoration works began in 1936.[133][135] Its foundations were reinforced and its roof, dome, the monastery walls and buildings were restored and the surrounding area underwent beautification.[99][41] The restoration was initiated by the architect Alexander Tamanian,[136] and was supervised by the archeologist Karo Ghafadaryan.[133]
The church was (re)nationalized by the early 1930s and it, along with adjacent buildings, were transformed into a repository of antiquities called the Vagharshapat Archaeological Museum.[137] After its restoration, the church itself was turned into a museum in 1936 housing diverse archaeological exhibits from the nearby Zvartnots Cathedral, including an Urartian inscription,[r] jars from Karmir Blur, two Ionic capitals from the Garni Temple, frescoes from the demolished Sts. Peter and Paul Church in Yerevan, stone inscriptions and fragments, clay vessels, and photographs.[133][137] The museum, also described as a lapidarium,[139] operated for nearly a decade. The church and monastery were returned to the Mother See in the spring of 1945 after locum tenens Catholicos Gevorg Chorekchyan's April 1945 appeal to Joseph Stalin.[139][140] Its collection of more than 110 items were transferred mostly to the History Museum of Armenia.[133] Its living quarters were used by the accommodation department of the town council and the militsiya as late as 1951.[141]
Restorations and revitalization
Extensive restoration and archaeological excavations were undertaken at the church in the early years of Catholicos Vazgen I's tenure (r.1955–1994), alongside similar efforts at Etchmiadzin Cathedral.[142] Vazgen I, who called it "the most magnificent of our ancient shrines,"[6] directed much efforts for its revitalization.[143] Restoration began in 1955[144] and concluded in 1962,[6] with reconsecration held in September 1962.[145] Unlike other historic churches restored under state auspices, this project was overseen by the Church[146][s] and funded by Italian-Armenian benefactors Onnik Manoukian and Yervant Hussisian, who contributed $15,000 (equivalent to $168,000in 2024) for the church and an additional $6,000 (equivalent to $63,000in 2024) for the surrounding walls.[148][6]
The church on a 1988 Soviet stamp
The church grounds were enhanced with tuff block paving and a basalt drinking fountain designed by architect Rafayel Israyelian.[151] Israyelian also designed a new altar table (1960) and chandelier (1967). The altar featured an altarpiece of the Virgin Mary by Hovhannes Minasyan,[37][152] which has been hailed as "one of the finest works in the history of Armenian painting."[153]
In 1958, restoration shifted to the interior, beginning with the removal of white plaster and limewater deposits through sandblasting.[99] This revealed the original dark grey-brown tuff walls and a system of eight large and sixteen small squinches beneath the circular drum.[99][41] Excavations in 1959 exposed the original floor, located about 40cm (16in) below the contemporary level,[28][54][t] which was then lowered to match the original elevation.[41] By the 1970s, St. Hripsime was one of six active abbacies in Soviet Armenia.[154] Further restoration took place in 1985,[155] including the belfry's renovation in 1986–87 by Artsrun Galikyan and Avetik Teknetchyan.[155] Galikyan also designed new wooden doors for the church.[155]
Following independence, the Armenian government returned 3 hectares (7.4 acres) of land surrounding the monastery to the Mother See in the mid-1990s.[56] Under Catholicos Karekin I (r.1995–99), philanthropist Louise Manoogian Simone sponsored the renovation of the roof and complete repaving of the surrounding grounds by 1997.[56] Legal ownership of the church building was transferred from the Armenian government to the church in July 2000.[156] A new baptismal font was consecrated in 2012,[157] and its 1400th anniversary was celebrated in 2018.[158]
Crypt and other burials
The tomb of St. HripsimeThe monastic cemetery outside its walls
The tomb of St. Hripsime is located in an underground barrel vaulted chamber under the eastern apse.[159][160] It is accessed through the chamber on the northeastern corner.[161] Scholars like Eremian and Mnatsakanian have dated the crypt to the early fifth century.[162] Mathews suggested that it "appears integral to the seventh century church".[110] Maranci linked its architecture to the building practice found in both Constantinople and particularly in Palestine.[160] The current gravestone, dating to 1986, depicts Hripsime holding a cross.[161]
Catholicos Komitas was presumably buried inside the church.[81] A stone slab before the altar is thought to be his tombstone.[163] Catholicos Pilipos, who restored the church in 1653, was buried in the northern apse inside the church after refusal by the Iranian ruler of Erivan to permit his burial at Etchmiadzin.[164] His marble tombstone was erected by Catholicos Yeprem I in the early 1800s.[163] Another Catholicos, Khoren I Muradbekian, who was murdered by the NKVD in April 1938, had a "hasty burial in the ordinary graveyard" of St. Hripsime, but his body was exhumed in 1943 and lain to rest in the grave of the catholicoses at Saint Gayane.[165][166]
During restoration works in 1958–59, two graves were found outside the western entrance, where, according to historical accounts, two Catholicoi had been buried: Astvatsatur (r.1715–1725) and Karapet II (r.1726–1729). Their tombstones had disappeared in the early 1800s, and new marble ones were erected during the 1950s restoration.[163] To the east of the church, a cemetery has survived with around 50 tombstones, including 30 with inscriptions, dating from the 17th to the 19th centuries. The perimeter wall, built in the 1890s, divides it into two. One notable burial is vardapetStepanos Lehatsi (d. 1689), a member of the Etchmiadzin brotherhood.[167]
St. Hripsime stands as one of Armenian architecture's most refined achievements.[169] The church exemplifies the "inscribed tetraconch" type distinctive to Armenia and Georgia.[70][u] It was built during the first golden age of Armenian architecture in the seventh century, when the tradition was leading the entire Christian East.[171][170]
Durability and modifications
The church has remained largely unaltered throughout history[44][49] and is considered "excellently preserved,"[23] especially its interior.[172] Main modifications include changes to the original roof angles and tiled spherical roof on the dome, and removal of grand portals.[173] Its overall proportions have remained largely unchanged.[173] The most significant later additions were the portico (1653) and the belfry (1790),[95] which have been frequently criticized on aesthetic grounds.[v]
The building has not sustained any major damage from earthquakes.[3][w] Its seismic resistance has been attributed by a group of researchers to the use of 110cm (43in) thick three-layer unreinforced wall of "midis masonry" (two outer faces of cut stone with the interior filled with rubble and lime mortar).[3] Additionally, its pyramidal shape and low center of gravity contribute to its stability,[177] along with earthquake-resistant features like wall-reinforcing niches, a lightweight hollow dome crown, fan-shaped squinches to support a dome, buttresses, reinforcing ribs, and integral anti-seismic corner towers (turrets).[178][41]
An aerial view of the churchAn interior view
Overview and façade niches
Constructed with finely cut dark gray tuff stone, the church features preciseashlar masonry with mortarless joints and rests on a solid three-stepped stylobate.[184] It has two entrances, located on the western and southern sides.[185] It is externally rectangular with a cruciformtetraconch plan.[185] Its core is an octagonal bay, from which four cross arms terminate by apses, while in the diagonals three-quarter cylindrical passageways in diagonal directions leading to four identical chambers (sacristies),[186] each measuring 4m ×4m (13ft ×13ft).[110][187]
The church measures 22.8 by 17.7m (75 by 58ft) externally[2] and rises around 23m (75ft) internally under the dome[5] and 32m (105ft) to the top of the cross.[4] Although small in size,[x] it possesses "a massive monumentality",[170] standing out distinctly against the plain.[189] With a "thick and squat" exterior appearance,[190] its interior is "undulating",[70] spacious, well lit, "very sober and very graceful".[191] Its southern wall is 53cm (21in) longer than the northern (22.87 and 22.34 m).[110] The dimensions and positions of windows, doors, apses, and niches vary throughout the church, which can be explained by successive building phases.[110] According to Eremian, the apse originally had a single window, while two more windows were added by Catholicos Ezr after 632 as he subscribed to the Chalcedonian creed under Byzantine pressure under Heraclius.[110] The two openings were sealed off at a later point, possibly around 680.[192]Jean-Michel Thierry found the evidence decisive, while Mathews disagreed.[192][110]
It is unique for the deep and tall trapezoidal[y]niches on its four façades.[195] They serve both practical and aesthetic purposes: conserving building materials while relieving wall weight, and creating visual contrast with the polished wall surfaces that enhances the overall harmony of the structure.[196][197] They create a "powerful visual impact,"[187] adding chiaroscuro effects.[198] These niches (recesses) represented an architectural innovation[196] and constitute "the first dated example of dihedral niches"[199][z] that would later find a wide application and become characteristic for Armenian architecture.[199][197]H. F. B. Lynch found their execution at Hripsime "quite inchoate", suggesting that these niches found perfection at Ani.[174]
Ornamentation
The church features minimal ornamentation. On the exterior, decoration is primarily limited to sculpted moldings[70] (i.e. carved arched friezes) over the windows,[200][5] stylized with floral and geometric motifs.[92] Inside, simple thirty-two medallions (i.e. rosettes) composed of concentric circles run along the drum of the dome.[67][13] More notably, the cupola contains twelve elongated relief rays radiating from the center and narrowing towards the top center. Loosely grouped into four groups, they form a cross-like pattern.[201] Despite a lack of direct resemblance this design has been linked to the mosaic cross originally depicted on the dome of the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople, as well as to sun motifs in Sasanian architecture, such as those on the dome of the Neyasar fire temple. The architect may have drawn inspiration from decorative elements in Iranian domes, reinterpreting them to align with Christian theology.[77] Beneath the dome, fan-shaped decorations accentuate the three-quarter niches.[37]
Dome and squinches
Interior view of the cupola and squinchesThe dome and one of the four corner turrets
Its dome is regarded as the pinnacle of perfection in Armenian architecture.[202] Its cupola, which places a windowed drum on a circular cornice, is seen as the church's most significant feature in the development of Armenian architecture.[110] The windowed drum is an enduring innovation that emphasizes the structure's vertical thrust.[203]
The dome rests on a slightly rectangular bay of 10.10m ×9.52m (33.1ft ×31.2ft),[187][19] topped by a conical roof[204] on a low, sixteen-faceted drum with twelve windows.[5][67] It is unusually large for the size of the church.[65] The conical apex contains an interior hollow that keeps the center of gravity low to resist earthquake damage.[178] The four corner sections contain small tower-like structures (turrets) placed at the cubical base.[205][110] Thomas F. Mathews describes them as "an unicum in Armenian architecture."[110] They are hollow and provide access from the cornice walk-way to crawl space above the squinch vaults.[110] They function as stabilizing counterweights for the drum,[110][206] and restrain lateral thrust, serving as both anchors and buttresses.[178]
Based on irregularities in measurement,[110] scholars initially attributed the cupola to the 10th–11th centuries.[207][19][41] However, restoration in the 1950s revealed mason's marks identical to those in the body of the church, indicating seventh-century origin.[209] Supporting this dating are decorative rays emanating from the cupola's center and a band of concentric circles at its base, features found in other contemporary churches.[110] The stone processing, color, dimensions, row heights, also corresponded to the other parts of the church, leaving no suspicions about later modifications.[152] Harutyunyan theorized that only external dome restoration occurred in the 1650s,[37][210] while Mnatsakanian suggested the original dome had a spherical, tiled roof.[173]
The dome rests on four large squinches—arch-shaped supports in the corners of the square bay—over diagonal exedrae, with eight smaller squinches above creating the transition from octagon to circular drum base.[70][170] These conical squinches have no known precedent in earlier precisely-dated structures.[77] While some connect them to Sasanian architecture like Neyasar's chahartaq fire-temple,[77] Armenians transformed Iranian mud brick designs into enduring masonry.[211] Maranci countered that Iranian examples (Sarvistan and Firuzabad) show only superficial resemblance, proposing Cappadocian churches like Kizil Kilise offer more compelling structural and decorative parallels.[212]
Type and influence
A 1911 photo of the church
Its specific tetraconch ground plan, often called "Hripsime-type", is shared by a group of churches in Armenia and Georgia.[214][215] The most important examples are St. Hripsime and Jvari in Mtskheta,[216] with the Church of Avan (590s) being the earliest dated example and model for Hripsime.[220]Antony Eastmond describes their forms as "sophisticated plays on geometry and spatial volumes that sought to reconcile the circularity of a central dome within a rectilinear ground plan."[221]Adriano Alpago-Novello noted that the type is "significant for the wealth and articulation of its interior spaces", contrasting with "a very elementary exterior structure."[222]
While the question of precedence has been debated by Georgian and Armenian scholars,[233] they are part of a complex process of mutual influence and interchange[234] and a shared cultural heritage.[235][226]Karen Balyan described the churches of Hripsime and Jvari as "works of genius" and dismissed the scholarly dispute over their "typological primacy" as narrow-mindedness.[236]
Origin
The origins (or precedents) of the architectural design of St. Hripsime, regarded as extremely complicated,[237] have been the subject of research.[222] Some have emphasized indigenous development. W. Eugene Kleinbauer characterized it "an independent phenomenon" within Early Christian architecture, marked by its own typological and stylistic trajectory.[238] He wrote that it is "almost universally recognized as a specifically Armenian creation, largely independent of architectural developments elsewhere, including Byzantium."[239] Links to early Christian martyria and baptisteries have been suggested.[237]Richard Krautheimer regarded the church as a product of Armenia's distinctive political, religious, and cultural milieu, dismissing comparisons to Roman mausolea.[240]Adriano Alpago-Novello rejected hypotheses that seek the origins in small Roman temples or in now-lost Constantinopolitan examples, suggesting that arguments based primarily on ground-plan similarities are methodologically unsound.[222]Hovhannes Khalpakhchian proposed that its conception may derive from the vernacular glkhatun, a traditional domestic dwelling form.[241] Some Armenian scholars identify the sixth-century Okht Drni Church in Mokhrenes, Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh), with its quatrefoil plan, as a plausible prototype for the Hripsime-type group.[242][243]Jean-Michel Thierry was not convinced.[215]
Other interpretations situate the monument within broader currents. Annegret Plontke-Lüning pointed to affinities with Late Antique architecture in Asia Minor, Syria, and Palestine, suggesting a shared lineage with Middle Byzantine cross-domed churches.[244]Marvin Trachtenberg linked the plan to antique and Byzantine polygonal structures, though he highlighted the distinct spatial effect of St. Hripsime—an interior he described as "cramped, fragmented, inert," as if carved from a dense mass.[245]Armen Kazaryan argued that Hripsime exemplifies the integration of Byzantine architectural principles within Caucasian building traditions. While employing local construction techniques, it combines traditional compositional concepts with elements borrowed from Byzantine prototypes, most notably Hagia Sophia in Constantinople.[246]
Influence
Architecture historians have discussed St. Hripsime's influence on Byzantine architecture, namely as a prototype for the vaulting methods of octagon domed churches of the 11th century, specifically the use of squinches.[247] Notable examples include St. George of Mangana and Panagia Kamariotissa in Chalke (in and near Constantinople), the Holy Apostles in the Athenian Agora, Daphni near Athens, Nea Moni in Chios, and several in Cyprus (such as Antiphonetes).[248]
Vardges Sureniants' 1897 painting portrays the church dominating a desolate landscape, symbolizing Armenia's ravaged homeland while venerating its monuments.
St. Hripsime is celebrated as a masterpiece of Armenian architecture,[279] often regarded as the definitive example of the tradition.[ab] The 20th century Catholicos Vazgen I called it "the most magnificent of our ancient shrines",[6] while Hovhannes Khalpakhchian deemed it "the pearl of Armenian architecture".[197]
Its architectural ingenuity has earned international recognition.[284][175]W. Eugene Kleinbauer placed its "exciting composition" on par with the Basilica of San Vitale in Ravenna, Italy,[285] while Josef Krawina listed it alongside San Vitale and Hagia Sophia as one of the great masterpieces of early Christian architecture.[286] More broadly, the type exemplified by Hripsime has been described as "a major achievement of medieval architecture" by Anatoly Yakobson[226] and "an exceptional development" by Ernst Badstübner.[215]
The church's proportions have drawn particular admiration.[ac]Frédéric DuBois, an early European visitor, identified its "simplicity, massiveness, and grandeur" as key elements of the Armenian style.[288] Its sculptural quality has been frequently noted,[289] with Marvin Trachtenberg suggesting that it appears "as if carved from one massive masonry block."[245] Soviet Armenian architects Artsvin Grigoryan and Martin Tovmasyan suggested that it "maximizes the potential of stone".[194]Giorgi Chubinashvili, pointing to its "irregular contour" and other "defects," rejected calling it a masterpiece.[290]
↑Armenian: Սուրբ Հռիփսիմե եկեղեցի, romanized:Surb Hṙip‘simē yekeghetsi or Հռիփսիմեի տաճար, Hṙip‘simēi tač̣ar.[6][7] It is often referred to as a monastery (Սուրբ Հռիփսիմե վանք, Surb Hṙip‘simē vank').[8][9][10] Sometimes spelled Ripsime or Hripsimeh[11][12]
↑A bas-relief sculpture of a two-storied mausoleum, shaped like a tower, that appears on the southern stele at Odzun is believed to depict the martyrium of St. Hripsime.[41][42][43] Its general form closely matches the two-story tombs of Palmyra.[44][45]
↑Additionally, sarcophagi, pieces of a four-sided stele, winepresses, wells, and water pipes were discovered.[54] The monastery wall, built in 1894, cut through the single-nave church, separating it into two parts.[55] In 1996–97, an open altar-like chapel was erected next to the single-nave church for the proper enshrinement of the relics of the Hripsimean virgins.[56][57][58]
↑Some scholars have placed it circa 618, such as Stone and Kouymjian in 617,[62] Maranci in 618/619,[70] Donabédian "between ca 617 and ca 628."[71]Armen Kazaryan suggested "construction could have taken place between 613 and 620."[72]
↑There are two other inscriptions on the western façade which are heavily weathered, with only individual letters legible, which Karo Ghafadaryan and Aleksandra Eremian attributed to Catholicos Komitas.[85][66]
↑The inscriptions of Hripsime are explicitly called the second earliest Armenian inscription by Greenwood,[89]Michael E. Stone,[90] and Arsen Harutyunyan.[83] The Tekor inscription is now lost.[91]
↑There is also an encrypted epigraph from 1721/22, left by future Catholicos Hakob V of Shamakhi (r.1759–1763), is located on the left niche of the eastern façade.[122] An undated inscription by Aleksandr vardapet, who is most likely the later Catholicos Aleksandr II (r.1753–55), records the donation of fifty sheep as breeding stock.[123]
↑Varazdat Harutyunyan wrote that it was known beforehand that the floor had been raised nearly 1m (3ft 3in), perhaps during the 1653 restoration of Catholicos Pilipos.[37]
↑Also described as a domed tetraconch encased in a rectangle.[170]
↑H. F. B. Lynch advised to disregard the portal and belfry when appreciating its architecture.[174] Ghafadaryan argued that the belfry only diminishes the church's external appearance.[66]Artsvin Grigoryan and Nona Stepanyan wrote that the belfry is out of harmony with the church.[175]
↑A 2023 study identified a vertical crack between a niche and corner room, likely from moderate earthquakes, but not threatening structural integrity.[176]
↑Krautheimer compared its size to the church of Tomarza in Cappadocia and noted that it covers just about one third the surface of the Hagia Sophia at Salonica.[188]
↑Charles Diehl, 1907: "can be considered the masterpiece of Armenian architecture due to its distinctive features."[280] Harold Buxton, 1914: "[the most] perfect specimen of the best age of Armenian architecture."[281] Maya Nersisyan, 1970: "the crown of Armenian architecture".[282] Ivan Foletti, 2023: "the flagship monument of Armenian culture."[283]
↑"The proportions both of the interior and the exterior of this church give an impression of balance and harmony seldom equalled"[5] "harmonious proportions."[196] "These buildings [of the Hripsime type] are also distinguished by their well-refined proportions."[226] "displays noble proportions,"[178] "the harmony of its vertical, horizontal and curved lines is so enticing to the eye that the observer stares at them for a long time in enjoyment of the grandeur."[4] "well-formed proportions".[181]Andrei Bely commended "the elegance of its simultaneously heavy and light" proportions.[287]
123Azatyan, Karen; Azatyan, Ruben; Manukian, Anzhelika; Melikyan, Mane (29 September 2023). "A comparative analysis of the interrelation between the evolution in the structure of Armenian churches of the 4th-14th centuries and the three-layer "midis" masonry". Budownictwo i Architektura. 22 (3). Lublin University of Technology: 073–104. doi:10.35784/bud-arch.3820.
↑Dalton, Ormonde Maddock (1925). East Christian art: a survey of the monuments. Hacker Art Books. p.33. ...in Armenia, such as the cathedral of Edgmiatsin, the church at Bagaran, and the Hripsimeh church at Vagharshapat...
↑Svajian, Stephen G. (1977). A Trip Through Historic Armenia. GreenHill Pub. p.85. According to Lynch, the interior of the chapel has the features of St. Hripsimeh Church in Etchmiadzin.
123Stepanian, Nona[in Armenian]; Chakmakchian, Arutyun (1971). Декоративное искусство средневековой Армении [Decorative Art of Medieval Armenia] (in Russian). Leningrad: Aurora Art Publishers. p.18.
↑Khachikyan, Lia (October 2014). "The Problems of Preserving Zones of Monuments in Urban Structure and Natural Environment in Republic of Armenia". Advanced Materials Research. 1020: 817–822. doi:10.4028/www.scientific.net/AMR.1020.817. ISSN1662-8985.
123Arakelyan, B. N. (1971). "Հայկական մշակույթը հելլենիստական դարաշրջանում. Քանդակագործություն [Armenian Culture in the Hellenistic Era: Sculpture]". Հայ Ժողովրդի Պատմություն, Հ. 1. [History of the Armenian People. Volume I] (in Armenian). Yerevan: Armenian SSR Academy of Sciences. p.875.
↑Hakobian, T. Kh.; Melik-Bakhshian, St. T.[in Armenian]; Barseghian, H. Kh.[in Armenian] (1988). "Էջիածին [Ejmiatsin]". Հայաստանի և հարակից շրջանների տեղանունների բառարան [Dictionary of Toponyms of Armenia and Surrounding Regions] Volume II (in Armenian). Yerevan University Press. p.351.
↑Hacikyan, Agop Jack; Basmajian, Gabriel; Franchuk, Edward S.; Ouzounian, Nourhan (2000). The Heritage of Armenian Literature: From the Oral Tradition to the Golden Age. Detroit: Wayne State University Press. p.121. ISBN9780814328156.
1234Kazaryan, Armen; Mikayelyan, Lilit (2019). "Architectural Decorations of Armenian Churches of the 7th and the 10th-11th Centuries and Their Presumably Sasanian Sources". In Asutay-Effenberger, Neslihan; Daim, Falko (eds.). Sasanian Elements in Byzantine, Caucasian and Islamic Art and Culture [Sasanidische Spuren in der byzantinischen, kaukasischen und islamischen Kunst und Kultur]. Mainz: Verlag des Römisch-Germanischen Zentralmuseums. pp.75–91. ISBN978-3-88467-320-1.
↑Atayan, Robert (2013) [1959]. "Professional Armenian Vocal Music [A lecture delivered at the International Music Council of UNESCO (June 3–5, 1970), at the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Lisbon.]". The Armenian Neume System of Notation. Translated by Vrej Nersessian. Routledge. p.234.
↑Stone, Michael E. (2006). "Armenian Inscriptions of the Fifth Century from Nazareth". Apocrypha, Pseudepigrapha, and Armenian Studies: Collected Papers. Volume II. Leuven: Peeters Publishers. p.772. ISBN9789042916449. The oldest dated Armenian inscription surviving is the Tekor inscription of the end of the fifth century. The next one is the dedication of S. Hripsime Church of 618 C.E.
↑"Սուրբ Հռիփսիմե". treasury.am (in Armenian). Archived from the original on 29 March 2025. Հեղինակ՝ Նիկոլայ Տոկարսկի / Ստեղծման/Արտադրման ժամանակը՝ XX դ.-ի սկիզբ
↑"Saint Hripsime Church". hushardzan.am. Service for the Protection of Historical Environment and Cultural Museum Reservations, Ministry of Culture of Armenia. 1 February 2012. Archived from the original on 28 February 2014.
↑Angaladian, Ruben[in Armenian] (2006). The Armenian Avant-garde of the 1960s: Seventeen Fates. Translated by Kenneth MacInnes. Yerevan, Armenia: R. Angaladian. p.63. ISBN999305447X.
↑"Կաթողիկոսություն Ամենայն Հայոց". Soviet Armenian Encyclopedia Vol. 5 (in Armenian). 1979. p.166. վեց վանահայրություն (Ս. Գեղարդի, Խոր Վիրապի, Եղեգնաձորի Ս. Խաչի, Ա. Հռիփսիմեի, Ս. Գայանեի և Ս. Շողակաթի) ՀՍՍՀ-ում
123Mnatsakanian, Stepan (1984). "Հայկական ճարտարապետությունը VI-VII դարերում [Armenian Architecture in the 6th and 7th Centuries]". Հայ ժողովրդի պատմություն. հատոր II [History of the Armenian People. Vol. 2]. Yerevan: Armenian SSR Academy of Sciences. pp.582–583. (archived PDF)
↑Der Kiureghian, A. (1990). "Observations from the Armenian earthquake of December 7, 1988". Proceedings of Fourth U.S. National Conference on Earthquake Engineering May 20–24, 1990, Palm Springs, California (Volume 1). Earthquake Engineering Research Institute: 141–150.
↑Izmailova, Tatyana; Ayvazyan, Mariam (1962). Искусство Армении [The Art of Armenia] (in Russian). Moscow: Iskusstvo. p.32. Archived from the original on 20 November 2023. Небольшая по своим размерам, но монументальная постройка четко вырисовывается на фоне равнины.
↑Sinclair, T. A. (1987). Eastern Turkey: An Architectural and Archaeological Survey, Volume 1. London: Pindar Press. p.29.
↑Caillet, Jean-Pierre[in French] (May 2019). "A. Kazaryan, Church Architecture of the 7 th century in Transcaucasian countries. Formation and development of the tradition". Hortus Artium Medievalium (in French). 25 (1). Brepols: 216–218. doi:10.1484/J.HAM.4.2019014.
Maranci, Christina (2004). "The Armenian Churches of New England: Tradition and Adaptation". In Mamigonian, Marc (ed.). The Armenians of New England. Belmont, MA: National Association for Armenian Studies and Research. pp.151–158.
12Walatek, Helena [Halina] (1981). "Zum Problem der Quellen des Architekturtyps Ripsime-Dshvari [On the Problem of Origins of Hripsime-Djvari]". Second International Symposium on Armenian Art (in German). Yerevan: Academy of Sciences of Soviet Armenia Press. pp.26–31. Archived(PDF) from the original on 19 December 2025.
Khrushkova, Lyudmila (January 2012). "Early Christian architecture of the Caucasus: problems of typology". Antiquité Tardive. 20: 348. doi:10.1484/J.AT.1.103111. ISSN2295-9718.
12Trachtenberg, Marvin (2003) [1986]. "Byzantine Architecture". In Trachtenberg, Marvin; Hyman, Isabelle (eds.). Architecture: From Prehistory to Postmodernity. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Harry N. Abrams. pp.179–180.
Cyprus; Stewart, Charles Anthony (2014). "The Development of Byzantine Architecture on Cyprus". Cyprus and the Balance of Empires: Art and Archaeology from Justinian I to the Coeur de Lion. American Schools of Oriental Research. p.126. doi:10.5615/j.ctvj7wkqx.15.
↑Keshishian, Onnik K. (1974). Integrative and Dysfunctional Factors in the Formation of the Armenian Nation. Claremont Graduate University. p.60.
↑"A Las Vegas Orthodox Church". lasvegasorthodox.com. Archived from the original on 16 November 2025. The architecture of our temple is based on the design of the Church of Saint Hripsime in Etchmiadzin, Armenia, a 7th century church which is still standing to this day.
↑quoted in Toramanian, Toros (1948). Նյութեր հայկական ճարտարապետության պատմության [Materials on the History of Armenian Architecture] Vol. 2 (in Armenian). Yerevan: Armenian SSR Academy of Sciences. p.25.
↑Igityan, Henrik[in Armenian] (February 1964). "Արա Բեքարյանի ցուցահանդեսը"(PDF). Sovetakan Hayastan Monthly (in Armenian). 2 (215). Yerevan: Armenian SSR Committee for Cultural Relations with the Armenians Abroad: 22. ISSN0131-6834.
Khalpakhchian, O. Kh. (1962). "Армянская ССР [Armenian SSR]". Искусство стран и народов мира. 1: Австралия – Египет [Arts of the Countries and Peoples of the World. Vol. 1: Australia – Egypt] (in Russian). Moscow: Sovetskaya Entsiklopediya. pp.102–103.
Kazaryan, A. Yu. (2009). "'Новый Иерусалим' в пространственных концепциях и архитектурных формах средневековой Армении" ["New Jerusalem" in Spatial Concepts and Architectural Forms of Medieval Armenia]. In Lidov, A. M. (ed.). Новые Иерусалимы: Иеротопия и иконография сакральных пространств[New Jerusalems: Hierotopy and Iconography of Sacred Spaces] (in Russian). Moscow: Indrik. p.520-543. ISBN978-5-91674-051-6.
Manoukian, Agopik (2013). "Un témoignage sur une restauration de l'époque post-stalinienne: l'église Sainte-Hripsimé à Etchmiadzine (Arménie)" [A testimony on a restoration from the post-Stalinist era: the Saint Hripsime Church in Etchmiadzin (Armenia)]. In Ter Minassian, Taline[in French] (ed.). Patrimoine & Architecture dans les États post-soviétiques[Heritage & Architecture in Post-Soviet States] (in French). Presses Universitaires de Rennes. pp.45–60. ISBN9782753526426.
Strzygowski, Josef (1918). Die Baukunst der Armenier und Europa[The Architecture of the Armenians and of Europe] (in German). Vol.I. Vienna: Kunstverlag Anton Schroll & Co. pp.92–94.
Eremian, Aleksandra[in Armenian] (1955). Храм Рипсиме[The Church of Hripsime] (in Russian). Yerevan: Armgiz. Italian translation: A. B. Eremian (1972). La Chiesa di S. Hripsime. Milan.
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