The Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin in the centre of the city of Vagharshapat (Etchmiadzin) is the ecclesiastical centre of the Armenian Apostolic Church. Etchmiadzin Cathedral is the home church of Catholicos, the Pope of the Armenians. Apart from the Cathedral, the area also contains residence of the Catholicos, the Gevorkian seminary and a monastery, among others.
The Mother See, together with Saint Gayane and Saint Hripsime churches (also in Etchmiadzin) and the nearby archaeological site of Zvartnots, is one of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
Etchmiadzin, also called Vagharshapat, is a less than one hour bus trip from Yerevan, the capital. We visited there twice. Because I lost my camera between the visits, the photos of this page are only from the latter visit.
Unfortunately I don't have any photographs of Saint Hripsime Church. Those where taken by the camera that I lost. I also lost photos from the mass that was held in the Etchmiadzin Cathedral.
Next page: Zvartnots Airport »
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Most of the photographs at this site are licensed under a Creative Commons
licence. See page of each image for further information.
