Vagharshapat

The territory of ancient Vagharshapat was inhabited since the 3rd millennium BC. Many sites, such as Metsamor Castle, Shresh hill and Mokhrablur hill date back to the neolithic period. The first written records about Vagharshapat were found in the inscriptions left by the Urartian king Rusa II (685–645 BC), where it was mentioned as Kuarlini (Կուարլինի). The inscription found in the archaeological site of ancient Vagharshapat cites to a water canal opened by king Rusa II, between Ildaruni river (Hrazdan River) and the valley of Kuarlini.

According to 5th-century writer Movses Khorenatsi, the oldest name of Vagharshapat was Artimed (Արտիմէդ), derived from the ancient Greek deity Artemis. Later, it was renamed Avan Vardgesi (Աւան Վարդգէսի, "Town of Vardges") or Vardgesavan (Վարդգէսաւան) after being rebuilt by prince Vardges Manouk near the shores of Kasagh River, during the reign of king Orontes I Sakavakyats of Armenia (570–560 BC).

Under the reign of king Tigranes the Great (95–55 BC), the town was partly inhabited by Jewish captives.

In the first half of the 1st century AD, under the reign of the Armenian Arsacid king Vagharsh I of Armenia (117–144), the old town of Vardgesavan was renovated and renamed Vagharshapat (Վաղարշապատ). In his first book Wars of Justinian, the Byzantine historian Procopius has cited to the city as Valashabad (Balashabad), named after king Valash (Balash) of Armenia. The name evolved into its later form by the shift in the medial L into a Gh, which is common in the Armenian language. Movses Khorenatsi mentioned that the Town of Vardges was entirely rebuilt and fenced by king Vagharsh I to become known as Noarakaghak (Նորաքաղաք, "New City") and later Vagharshapat.

The remains of the 7th-century Cathedral of Zvartnots

Vagharshapat has served as the capital of the Arsacid Kingdom of Armenia between 120 AD and 330 AD. After embracing Christianity as a state religion in Armenia in 301, Vagharshapat was gradually called Ejmiatsin (Armenian: Էջմիածին), after the name of the Mother Cathedral; the seat of the Armenian Catholicosate, which is considered as one of the oldest religious organizations in the world. As a spiritual centre of the entire Armenian nation, Vagharshapat has grown up rapidly and developed as an important centre of education and culture. The city was home to one of the oldest educational institutions in Armenia founded by Mesrop Mashtots.

The political capital of the Armenian kingdom was transferred to the city of Dvin in 336.

Kurds and Persians attacking Vagharshapat

Vagharshapat maintained its status as the country's most important city until the fall of the Arsacid Kingdom in 428. The city has gradually lost its importance under the Persian rule, specifically when the seat of the Catholicosate was transferred to Dvin in 452. However, the first manuscript library in Armenia was founded in 480 in Vagharshapat.

The Armenian Church rejected the Council of Chalcedon (451) because they believed the Chalcedonian christology was too similar to Nestorianism; however, some Armenian bishops who were present in the territories of Roman Armenia signed the Council's documents and also accepted Pope Leo I's 458 encyclical mandating adherence to the Chalcedonian Definition. In Persarmenia, the Persian Nestorian Church supported the spread of Nestorianism, which the Armenian Church had previously declared heretical and saw as a threat to the independence of their Church. Peter the Iberian, a Georgian prince, also strongly opposed the Chalcedonian Creed.[11] Thus, in 491, Catholicos Babken I of Armenia, along with the Albanian and Iberian bishops met in Vagharshapat and issued a condemnation of the Chalcedonian Definition.[12]

In 587 during the reign of emperor Maurice, Vagharshapat (then called Valarshapat) and much of Armenia came under Roman administration after the Romans defeated the Sassanid Persian Empire at the battle of the Blarathon.

In 658 AD, Vagharshapat, along with the rest of the Armenian highland, was conquered by the Arabs. The city was briefly revived between the 9th and 11th centuries under the Bagratid Kingdom of Armenia, before being overrun by the Byzantines in 1045 and later by the Seljuks in 1064.

In the middle of the 13th century, Vagharshapat became part of the Ilkhanate of the Mongol Empire. During the last quarter of the 14th century the Aq Qoyunlu Sunni Oghuz Turkic tribe took over Armenia, including Vagharshapat.

In 1400, when Timur invaded Armenia and Georgia many districts including Vagharshapat were depopulated under the rule of the Timurid Empire.[13] In 1410, Armenia fell under the control of the Kara Koyunlu Shia Oghuz Turkic tribe. Under the Turkic-Mongol rule, Vagharshapat was known to the Turks as Uchkilisa (Üçkilise, "three churches" in Turkic).

Engraving of Etchmiadzin by Jean Chardin, 1670s

View of Etchmiadzin by Russian painter Mikhail Ivanov, 1783

The influence of Vagharshapat waned between 1045 and 1441, when the seat of the Armenian Catholicosate was transferred from the Cilician city of Sis back to Etchmiadzin.

Between 1502 and 1828, Armenia became part of the Persian state under the rule of Safaavid, Afsharid and Qajar dynasties, with short periods of Ottoman rule between 1578 and 1603 and later between 1722 and 1736.

In 1828, after the Russo-Persian War, Vagharshapat —as a part of the Erivan Khanate— was handed over to the Russian Empire as a result of the Treaty of Turkmenchay signed on 21 February 1828.

In their 1833 book Eli Smith and H. G. O. Dwight described Vagharshapat, then a village, as follows: "It presents nothing but a crowded collection of mud cabins, perhaps 500 in number."[14]

With the establishment of the Erivan Governorate in 1850, Vagharshapat became the centre of the newly formed Echmiadzinsky Uyezd.

Soviet-era World War II memorial

Armenia enjoyed a short period of independence between 1918 and 1920 before falling to the Bolshevik 11th Red Army and becoming part of the Soviet Union. In 1925, the new plan of rebuilding the modern town was introduced by architect Alexander Tamanian. It was finally completed between 1939 and 1943. In 1945, the town of Vagharshapat was officially renamed Etchmiadzin by the Soviet government.

During the 1950s and 1960s, the town has witnessed a massive wave of construction, including residential buildings and industrial plants. By the end of the 1960s, the historical monuments of the town; including the religious complex of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, Saint Hripsime Church, Saint Gayane Church and the surrounding area of Zvartnots Cathedral, were entirely rehabilitated.[15]

After the independence of Armenia, the town was officially renamed Vagharshapat in 1995. However, the town is still popularly known as Ejmiatsin.

In October 2018, Diana Gasparyan, who was nominated by the Civil Contract Party, was elected mayor of the city and the country's first ever female mayor.[16]

Veharan

Historically, the focal point of the town is the Mother Cathedral of Holy Etchmiadzin, (Armenian: Մայր Տաճար Սուրբ Էջմիածին Mayr Tachar Surp Ejmiatsin) which is one of the oldest churches in the world. It was first built by Saint Gregory the Illuminator as a vaulted basilica in 301–303, when Armenia had just adopted Christianity as a state religion (the first such in world history).[27] The church was enlarged in many occasions, notably in 480, 618 and 1658.

Saints Vartan and Hovhannes Baptistery is a three-domed chapel located north of the Mother Cathedral and designated for baptism ceremonies. It was designed by architects Jim Torosyan and Romeo Julhakyan and consecrated on 26 September 2008, while the construction was funded by the British-Armenian philanthropist Armen Sarkissian.

The Church of the Holy Archangels was built between 2009 and 2011 and located in the yard of Gevorkian Seminary building. The single-domed church was consecrated on 5 November 2011. It was designed by architect Jim Torosyan. The construction work was funded by the Armenian philanthropist Gagik Galstyan.

Built in 618, the Church of Saint Hripsimé has basically survived almost unchanged. It is considered one of the oldest surviving churches in Armenia, known for its fine architecture of the classical period, which influenced many other Armenian churches. It was erected in 618 by Catholicos Gomidas atop the original mausoleum, built by Catholicos Sahak the Great in 395, which contained the remains of the martyred Saint Hripsimé. According to the 17th century Armenian historian Arakel of Tabriz, the church was renovated during 1651–1653 by Catholicos Philip I. Repairs were made on the roof, top of the dome, the walls and bases. A cross was placed on top of the roof, and a small portico was added to the western side. It is one of the few churches in Armenian that remained active during the Soviet period.

Built in 630 by Catholicos Ezra I, Saint Gayane Church is distinguished by its harmonious proportions. It is a three-nave domed basilica with an octagonal drum resting on four internal pillars that divide the interior of the church into three. Its design remained unchanged despite partial renovations of the dome and some ceilings in 1652.

Meaning drop of light, Shoghakat Church is a single-nave domed basilica, built and completed in 1694 by prince Aghamal Sorotetsi during the period of Catholicos Nahabed I. It is built with red and black tufa stones, erected on the remains of a 6th-century basilica. The remains of a 4th-century small chapel could be seen at the southwestern end of Saint Shoghakat Church.[28]

Zvartnots is a 7th-century ruined circular church built upon the order of Catholicos Nerses III the Builder between 641 and 653. It is at the eastern edge of modern-day Vagharshapat. Zvartnots was a majestic cathedral famous for its unique design, dedicated to Saint George, built at the place where a meeting between king Tiridates III and Saint Gregory the Illuminator was supposed to have taken place. In 930, the church was ruined by an earthquake and remained buried until it was rediscovered in the early 20th century by architect Toros Toramanian. The site was excavated between 1900 and 1907, uncovering the foundations of the cathedral as well as the remains of the Pontifical palace and a winery.

• 
  Etchmiadzin Cathedral, opened in 303
• 
  Saint Hripsimé Church, opened in 618
• 
  Saint Gayane Church, opened in 630
• 
  Shoghakat Church, opened in 1694
• 
  Zvartnots Cathedral, opened in 652

Vagharshapat was home to the 1st paper factory in the history of Armenia. In 1780, Catholicos Simeon I of Yerevan founded the Etchmiadzin Paper Factory which served for 6 years.

Under the Soviet rule, the town was turned into an important industrial centre. It was home to 4 major industrial firms specialized in the production of military technology. However, the productivity of the plants declined after the fall of the Soviet Union.

Currently, the industry of the town is mainly based on food-processing. The largest industrial firms of the town are the Ejmiatsin Instrument Making Factory founded in 1966, the E.P.G. Ejmiatsin Cannery founded in 1969, the Ejmiatsin Kat dairy factory founded in 1997, the Sonimol plant for grains founded in 2001, the Ejmiatsin wine brandy and vodka factory founded in 2005, and the Ekologia V.K.H. biological waste destruction plant founded in 2009.[35]

Center of Vagharshapat

Being the spiritual centre of the Armenian nation worldwide, Vagharshapat is a major tourist destination for Armenians as well as foreign visitors. It is home to the UNESCO World Heritage Sites of Etchmiadzin Cathedral, Zvartnots Cathedral, Saint Hripsime Church, Saint Gayane Church and Shoghakat Church, grouped overall as the Cathedral and Churches of Echmiatsin and the Archaeological Site of Zvartnots.

The Machanents Touristic Centre of Vagharshapat provides a unique facility for the visitors of the town. The complex houses a cultural centre with small theatre, pub and jazz club, traditional cuisine, and a boutique hotel.[36] The Zvartnots hotel and casino complex is located at the eastern entrance of the town.

Vagharshapat is twinned with:[43]

Vagharshapat also cooperates with:

• Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria (2013)
• Almelo, Netherlands (2020)[44]