Tour through the holy sites of Echmiadzin and Zvartnots Cathedral

Echmiatsin is the holy center of the Armenian Apostolic Church, the oldest state-built church in the world. Here everyone can visit the museum “Treasures of Echmiatsin” to see the Holy Lance (Spear), relics belonging to Apostles of Jesus and John the Baptist, and a fragment of Noah's Ark. Saint Hripsime Church is a 7th-century Armenian Apostolic church. The church was built by Catholicos Komitas over the remains of the martyred Saint Hripsime to whom the church is dedicated. The Church of Saint Gayane is a 7th-century Armenian church located again in Etchmiadzin. St. Gayane was built by Catholicos Ezra I in 630. This church is dedicated to the abbess Gayane and was built at the place where saint Gayane was tortured. Zvartnots temple, built in the 7th century near Ejmiatsin is an outstanding monument of world architecture. In 2000, Zvartnots, along with the churches of St. Hripsimeh, St. Gayaneh and the Mother Cathedral in Echmiadzin, was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.