Ejmiatsin

Ejmiatsin: church of Saint Gayane

Ejmiatsin, also spelled Ejmiadzin, formerly Echmiadzin or (until 1945) Vagarshapat, city, west-central Armenia. It lies on the plain of the Aras River, 12 miles (20 km) west of Yerevan. Ejmiatsin is the seat of the supreme catholicos, or primate, of the Armenian Apostolic Church.

Ejmiatsin originated in the 7th century bce as the town of Vardkesavan and was renamed Vagarshapat about 140 ce, when the Parthian king Vologases III made it his capital. Upon the conversion of Armenia to Christianity about 300 ce, Vagarshapat became the residence of the Armenian patriarch. In 344 the town ceased to be the Armenian capital, and in 453 the patriarchal seat was removed elsewhere, but in 1441 the catholicos Kirakos brought back the seat to Vagarshapat, which thereafter remained the home of the “catholicos of all Armenians.”

The monastery, founded in the 6th century ce and called Echmiadzin from the 10th century, consists of a complex of buildings surrounded by a brick wall 30 feet (10 metres) high; it includes a modern college and seminary. The present cathedral, on the site of the original church, goes back to the 7th century but was considerably restored after 1441. In the cathedral treasury is the hand (relic) of St. Gregory the Illuminator. The cathedral and churches in Ejmiatsin, along with nearby archaeological remains, were collectively named a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2000.

The city itself is the centre of a rich region of orchards and vineyards and manufactures plastics, wine, and canned food. Pop. (2008 est.) 57,300.