Etchmiadzin Vagharshapat is the fifth largest city in Armenia, located in the Armavir province, about a 30 to 40-minute drive from Yerevan. It’s situated near the Turkish-Armenian border and officially received its current name in 1945. However, the city is commonly known as Etchmiadzin, which was also its official name between 1945 and 1995.
The city is best known for the Etchmiadzin Cathedral and the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, which serve as the spiritual center of the Armenian Apostolic Church. It is considered the third and current official center of the Church.
According to the 5th-century Armenian historian Moses of Khoren, Vagharshapat was originally known as Artimet, named after the ancient Greek goddess Artemis. Later, it was renamed Vardgesavan by Prince Vardges Manuk, who rebuilt the settlement near the shores of the Kasagh River.
The territory was later rebuilt and fortified by King Vagharsh I, and became known as Vagharshapat. In the 2nd century AD, during the reign of Armenian King Vagharsh I, the old town of Vardgesavan was renovated and renamed after the king—Vagharshapat.
Vagharshapat served as the capital of Armenia between 120 and 330 AD. After Armenia adopted Christianity as its state religion in 301 AD, Vagharshapat gradually came to be known as Etchmiadzin, after the name of the Mother Cathedral.
Etchmiadzin means “the descent of the Only Begotten,” referring to a vision of Gregory the Illuminator, the first Armenian Catholicos. In his vision, Jesus descended from heaven and struck the ground with a golden hammer, showing the exact spot where the first Christian church in Armenia had to be built. The political capital of the Armenian Kingdom was later moved to the city of Dvin in 336 AD.
Vagharshapat maintained its status as the country’s most important city until the fall of the Arsacid Kingdom in 428 AD. Gradually, it lost its significance under Persian rule, and the Catholicosate was transferred to Dvin in 452. In the following years, Vagharshapat, along with the rest of the Armenian Highlands, was conquered by the Arabs.
The city experienced a brief revival between the 9th and 11th centuries under the Bagratid Kingdom, but was later overrun by the Byzantines in 1045 and then by the Seljuks in 1064. In the 13th century, it was also destroyed by the Mongol Empire.
Between the 16th and 19th centuries, Armenia became part of Persia, and Vagharshapat fell under the rule of various Persian dynasties, including the Safavid, Afsharid, and Qajar dynasties, with short periods of Ottoman rule between 1578–1603 and again between 1722–1736.
After the Russo-Persian War of 1828, Vagharshapat—then part of the Erivan Khanate—was handed over to the Russian Empire.
Following the Liberation Wars and World War I, Armenia experienced a brief period of independence, during which Vagharshapat became part of the First Republic of Armenia.
Nowadays, during the Soviet era, Vagharshapat was officially renamed Echmiadzin, and many monuments underwent massive reconstruction, while numerous residential buildings and industrial plants were added to the city.
Today, Vagharshapat is a prosperous city, known for its historical sites such as Echmiadzin Cathedral, St. Hripsime Church, St. Gayane Church, Shoghakat Church, and the ruins of Zvartnots, which is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Vagharshapat remains a cultural hub and one of the most important centers in the entire republic.
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