Khor Virap
Videos
Khor Virap is an Armenian monastery located in the Ararat Plain in Armenia, near the border with Turkey, about 8 kilometres south of Artashat, Ararat Province, in the territory of ancient Artaxata. Th
Khor Virap with Mount Ararat in background
Fenced border with Turkey
Baptism of Tiridates III by St. Gregory
Church of the Holy Mother of God (Surb Astvatzatzin)
Gregory the Illuminator
Videos
Gregory the Illuminator was the founder and first official head of the Armenian Apostolic Church. He converted Armenia from Zoroastrianism to Christianity in the early fourth century, making Armenia t
Khor Virap
…residence of the Catholicos, the head of the Armenian Church. Khor Virap's notability as a monastery and pilgrimage site is attributed to the fact that Gregory the Illuminator (the patron saint of Armenia) was imprisoned there for 13 years by King Tiridates III of Armenia. Gregory subsequently became the king's religious…
A 10th century bas relief of St. Gregory at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross of Aghtamar (Akdamar), Lake Van (today Turkey)
The Baptism of the Armenian People (1892), by Ivan Aivazovsky
A miniature of Gregory and Trdat (as a boar) by Vardan Baghishetsi on a manuscript from Baghesh, Vaspurakan, c. 1569–70
Etchmiadzin Cathedral, 17th century