Church · Vagharshapat, Vagharshapat community, Armavir
Shoghakat Church
Շողակաթ եկեղեցի
Shoghakat, meaning 'drop of light', is a domed single-nave church of 1694 near Saint Hripsime in Vagharshapat, built by Prince Aghamal Sorotetsi where tradition places the martyrdom of Hripsime's companions.
Where it is
40.1681, 44.3049
Why go
Next to Hripsime and Gayane this is a plain building, and the contrast is part of the interest. The body of the church carries little ornament beyond khachkars set high in the walls and a carved cross with rosettes on the east wall, while the open western gallery, built at the same time, is richly framed with geometric patterns and rosettes and topped by a six-column belfry. UNESCO notes that it stands on the site of a 4th-century chapel, and excavations at the south-west corner found the remains of an early single-chamber church. Shoghakat forms one of the areas of the Echmiatsin World Heritage property together with Saint Hripsime.
Near Shoghakat Church
Church
Saint Hripsime Church
Catholicos Komitas's church of 618 on the eastern edge of Vagharshapat, raised over the tomb of the martyr Hripsime on a plan of four apses with niches between them and rooms in the corners.
0 km · straight-line distance; driving distance and time differ
Church
Etchmiadzin Cathedral
The mother cathedral of the Armenian Apostolic Church in Vagharshapat, built according to the chronicler Agathangelos after a vision of St Gregory the Illuminator and rebuilt in 483–484.
1 km · straight-line distance; driving distance and time differ
Church
Saint Gayane Church
Built in 630 under Catholicos Ezr I within walking distance of Etchmiadzin Cathedral, Saint Gayane joins a three-aisled basilica to a central dome, and its arched western portico shelters the graves of senior clergy.
2 km · straight-line distance; driving distance and time differ
Church
Saint Mesrop Mashtots Church, Oshakan
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.
10 km · straight-line distance; driving distance and time differ