Inside Hripsime Church

Saint Hripsimé Church is one of the oldest surviving churches in Armenia. The church was erected by Catholicos Komitas atop the original mausoleum built by Catholicos Sahak the Great in 395 AD that contained the remains of the martyred Saint Hripsimé to whom the church was dedicated. The structure was completed in 618 AD. This church together with other nearby sites is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and is located in the present day city of Vagharshapat, (Etchmiadzin). Hripsimé was a young and beautiful Christian nun, who was to be forcefully married to the Roman emperor Diocletian. She and other nuns fled the tyrant emperor and left to Armenia. The pagan Armenian King Trdat received a letter from Diocletian in which he described her beauty. Trdat discovered where the nuns were hiding, and fell in love with Hripsimé. After her refusal of his advances, Hripsimé was tortured and martyred at the location of this church. King Trdat was to be later converted to Christianity and made it the official religion of the kingdom.