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Church · Oshakan, Ashtarak community, Aragatsotn

Saint Mesrop Mashtots Church, Oshakan

Սուրբ Մեսրոպ Մաշտոց եկեղեցի · Saint Mesrop Mashtots

The black-tuff basilica in Oshakan built in 1873–79 over the grave of Mesrop Mashtots, creator of the Armenian alphabet, whose tomb lies in a crypt beneath the main altar.

Where it is

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40.2586, 44.3156

Why go

Most visitors come for what lies beneath the nave: the crypt under the main altar where Mashtots's grave is marked by a marble gravestone. Near the entrance to the grave stands a monument to the 36 original letters of the alphabet in erkatagir script, and at the east end a cylindrical bell tower added in 1884 departs from the usual Armenian habit of a western belfry. It is a working church and the seat of the Diocese of Aragatsotn, with pilgrims arriving for the Feast of the Holy Translators in October. Karmravor in nearby Ashtarak makes a good companion stop.

Base yourself nearby

City

Yerevan

Yerevan is Armenia's capital and the base for almost every trip to the country: a low-rise city built largely from pink volcanic tuff, with a dense cafe and dining culture, serious museums and manuscript collections, Soviet-modernist architecture, and monasteries, wine country and Lake Sevan all within a day's return drive.

Near Saint Mesrop Mashtots Church, Oshakan