Echmiadzin

Ancient town and former capital of Armenia, 15 km/9 mi west of the present capital Yerevan; population (2001 est) 46,200. As the centre of the Armenian Church, it is the most important religious site in the country.

Echmiadzin was founded in the first half of the second century AD, and became its capital. From the beginning of the 4th century – when a cathedral and monastery were built – until the 12th century it was the seat of the Armenian Patriarch, or ‘Catholicos’. The present see was established here in 1441. The monastery site contains a number of historic buildings: the main cathedral founded in 303 by St Gregory the Illuminator, rebuilt between the 5th and the 7th centuries; and other churches dating from the 7th century. The monastery's renowned manuscript collection was transferred during the Soviet period to Yerevan. Echmiadzin was granted town status in 1924.