Completed 1767 Phone +374 231 48016 | Opened 1767 | |
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Location Vagharshapat, Armavir Province, Armenia Affiliation Armenian Apostolic Church Architectural type Single nave basilica with no dome Address 1 Nar-Dos Street, Vagharshapat, Armenia Architectural style Armenian church architecture Similar Surp Astvatsatsin Church of, Kotavank, Holy Mother of God Chur, Lower Bethlehemi Church, Artavazik Church | ||
The Cathedral of the Holy Mother of God (Armenian: Սուրբ Աստվածածին Մայր Եկեղեցի) is a church located in the town of Vagharshapat, Armenia and the seat of the Armavir diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church. It was built in 1767 during the period of Catholicos Simeon I of Yerevan, on the remains of a 16th-century wooden church. It is located at the centre of modern-day Vagharshapat, around 200 meters north of the walls of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin.
History and architecture
Prior to the construction of the church, a 16th-century wooden church used to stand on the same point of the modern-day cathedral. According to a description left on a stone in one of the internal walls of the church, Holy Mother of God was built in 1767 with the initiation of Catholicos Simeon I of Yerevan.
The church belongs to the type of single nave basilicas with no dome. Many khachkars (cross stones) composed during the 18th century, were placed in the external walls of the church. The churchyard was home to a religious school.
During the Soviet period, the church remained active and witnessed a major renovation in 1986 through the efforts of Catholicos Vazgen I, when a belfry was built at the entrance as it never had a belfry prior to this renovation.