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. It is sometimes referred to as the Armenian Apostolic Orthodox Church, Armenian Church or Armenian Gregorian Church.
The Apostolic Autocephalous Orthodox Church of Georgia, commonly known as the Georgian Orthodox Church or the Orthodox Church of Georgia, is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox church in full communion with the other churches of Eastern Orthodoxy. It is Georgia's dominant religious institution, and a majority of Georgian people are members. The Orthodox Church of Georgia is one of the oldest churches in the world. It asserts apostolic foundation, and that its historical roots can be traced to the early and late Christianization of Iberia and Colchis by Andrew the Apostle in the 1st century AD and by Saint Nino in the 4th century AD, respectively. As in similar autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Christian churches, the church's highest governing body is the holy synod of bishops. The church is headed by the Patriarch of All Georgia, Ilia II, who was elected in 1977.
Etchmiadzin Cathedral is the mother church of the Armenian Apostolic Church, located in the city dually known as Etchmiadzin (Ejmiatsin) or Vagharshapat, Armenia. It is usually considered the first cathedral built in ancient Armenia, and often regarded the oldest cathedral in the world.
Ashot I was an Armenian king who oversaw the beginning of Armenia's second golden age. He was the son of Smbat VIII the Confessor and was a member of the Bagratuni Dynasty.
Dvin was a large commercial city and the capital of early medieval Armenia. It was situated north of the previous ancient capital of Armenia, the city of Artaxata, along the banks of the Metsamor River, 35 km to the south of modern Yerevan. The site of the ancient city is currently not much more than a large hill located between modern Hnaberd and Verin Dvin, Armenia. Systematic excavations at Dvin that have proceeded since 1937 have produced an abundance of materials, which have shed light into the Armenian culture of the 5th to the 13th centuries.
Nerses IV the Gracious was Catholicos of Armenia from 1166 to 1173. A more precise translation of his epithet Shnorhali is "filled with Grace". He received the appellation Shnorhali from his contemporaries because of the very irenic quality of his writing.
Vrej Nersessian is the Curator of the Christian Middle East Section at the British Library, London.
Catholicos George II of Garni, Kevork II in Armenian, was the Catholicos of the Armenian Apostolic Church between 877 and 897. Hovhannes Draskhanakerttsi calls him an honorable man who was selected from the Catholicos's household by Prince Ashot I of Armenia to succeed Patriarch Zacharias. George anointed and crowned Ashot I when he was declared King of Armenia in 884. Upon King Ashot's death, George went to Bagaran to preside over his funeral. Ashot's heir Smbat I, who had been away at war, missed his father's funeral and was very grieved. Catholicos George went to comfort King Smbat at Yerazgavors, where he would later also preside at his coronation. This enraged the sparapet Abas who is said to have spread false rumors about the Catholicos in an attempt to bring him down. Abas tried to convince a holy man named Mashdotz from Sevanavank to join his conspiracy against the Catholicos and said he would name him Catholicos if it was successful. Mashdotz wrote a long letter in response, rejecting the offer to rebel against the Catholicos and chided Abas for his attempt. Hovhannes Draskhanakerttsi reports at this point Abas was struck by an illness and died, as if by divine wrath, and the other conspirators repented to the Catholicos out of fear. Around this time Dvin was hit by an earthquake, as it had been during Patriarch Zacharias's time, but this time it destroyed the church of the Catholicosate, as well as many other buildings and people. Afshin, the Caliph's representative in Atropatene, who had made an agreement of friendship with Smbat, was worried at various victories Smbat was having and that he might not remain faithful to their agreement if he became too strong. Afshin invaded Armenia and reached Dvin. War broke out and Catholicos George went to meet Afshin in an attempt to get him to reconsider. Afshin attempted to get George to bring King Smbat to him for a discussion, but the nakharars advised him not to go for fear of a trap. They also begged the Catholicos not to return to Afshin but George insisted. Afshin saw that the Catholicos could not bring the King to him so he had George bound with iron fetters and handcuffs. Afshin marched against King Smbat and they met in battle, after which they agreed that Smbat would pay royal taxes to Afshin and reconfirm his oath. Afshin did not return the Catholicos however, who remained bound and suffered greatly. After two months of torture and prayers a ransom was demanded for the Catholicos's release. His bishops, including Hovhannes Draskhanakerttsi, approached the nakhararas and the ransom was gathered. George had been brought to Paytakaran where the ransom was paid and he was returned to Armenia. Catholicos George died in Vaspurakan in 897 and his body was taken to the cemetery of Joroy Vank in Tosp. The king of his associates then elected Mashdotz to succeed him, the same Mashdotz who had previously rejected the chance to overthrow his predecessor.
Bagratid Armenia was an independent Armenian state established by Ashot I Bagratuni of the Bagratuni dynasty in the early 880s following nearly two centuries of foreign domination of Greater Armenia under Arab Umayyad and Abbasid rule. With each of the two contemporary powers in the region—the Abbasids and Byzantines—too preoccupied to concentrate their forces in subjugating the region, and with the dissipation of several of the Armenian nakharar noble families, Ashot succeeded in asserting himself as the leading figure of a movement to dislodge the Arabs from Armenia.
Saint John the Baptist Church is an active church in the old area of Kond, Yerevan, Armenia. First, it was built on the height of Kond district, in 1710, in the place of a medieval church ruined as the result of a destructive earthquake. It was built by a rich man, Melik Aghamal, living in Yerevan. Like the other medieval churches, this is a three-nave basilic church. The rectangular plan of the church includes the prayer-hall and the main altar on the eastern side, attached to which are the sacristies.
Khoren I Muradbekian was an Armenian Apostolic religious figure who served as Catholicos of All Armenians 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.
Komitas I Aghtsetsi or Komitas I of Aghdznik was a Catholicos of Armenia and Supreme Patriarch as well as the bishop of Taron from 615 until his death in 628. He is known also as Komitas Shinogh, "The Builder" — an allusion to his significant patronage of building and restoration work He was instrumental in the realization of several architectural projects, among which were the complete renovation of the Cathedral at the Holy See of Etchmiadzin; the construction of the Church of St. Hripsime, which stands to this day on the site of an earlier edifice; and the building of the Church of St. Gregory in Dvin.
Khor Virap is an Armenian monastery located in the Ararat Plain in Armenia, near the border with Turkey, about 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) south of Artashat, Ararat Province, within the territory of ancient Artaxata. The monastery was host to a theological seminary and was the residence of Armenian Catholicos.
The First Council of Dvin was a church council held in 506 in the city of Dvin. It convened to discuss the Henotikon, a christological document issued by Byzantine emperor Zeno in an attempt to resolve theological disputes that had arisen from the Council of Chalcedon.
Mesrop of Khizan was a prominent Armenian manuscript illuminator in Persia. Mesrop was born in the Ottoman Empire but eventually lived in Isfahan, Persia, where he contributed in the making of manuscripts for bibles and gospels for four decades. He was also a scribe, clerk, teacher, doctor of theology, restorer and binder. His manuscripts have been displayed in museums throughout the world and are found in many prestigious libraries.
The Third Council of Dvin was a church council held in 607 in the city of Dvin.
The Second Council of Dvin was a church Synod or ecumenical Council held in 554 in the city of Dvin.
The Fourth Council of Dvin was a Church Council held in Dvin the ancient capital city of Armenia in 648. The council was presided over by Catholicos Nerses III of Ishkhantsi (641-661) and was attended by 17 participating bishops.
The Council of Shirakavan was a union council held between the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Armenian Apostolic Church, and the Syriac Jacobite Church from April to October 862 in the Armenian city of Shirakavan. The purpose of the council was to seek unity among these three Churches and to clarify the Christological positions upheld by the Armenian Apostolic Church and, to a lesser extent, by the Syriac Jacobite Church.
