Zvartnots Cathedral

Zvartnots was one of the boldest buildings of early medieval Christendom: a round, multi-storey cathedral raised in the 7th century just outside Vagharshapat (Etchmiadzin), the spiritual centre of the Armenian Church. It collapsed within about three centuries, but its ring of foundations, column bases and sculpted capitals is one of the most evocative ruins in Armenia. It is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site that includes the cathedral and churches of Etchmiadzin, inscribed in 2000.

Catholicos Nerses III, remembered as "the Builder", began the church in 643, in the years when Arab armies were first pushing into Armenia. It was dedicated to St Gregory the Illuminator and built where, according to tradition, Gregory met King Trdat III. Nerses also moved the patriarchal residence here from Dvin, and excavations have uncovered the remains of the palace and a winery beside the church. Earlier still, the site had been occupied in the time of the Urartian king Rusa II.

The design was a tetraconch, a Greek-cross interior with four apses, wrapped in a circular aisle, while the outer wall was a 32-sided polygon that looked round from a distance. Above rose tiers of arcades to a dome. How high it really went is disputed: the three-storey reconstruction proposed in 1905 by Toros Toramanian is widely reproduced, while other scholars argue the engineering of the day could not have supported it. The carved details on site, basket capitals with Ionic volutes, capitals with eagles and friezes of vine scrolls, show links to Syrian and Mesopotamian workshops.

The church had fallen by the 10th century, probably in an earthquake, though raids have also been blamed. Its memory stayed powerful: King Gagik I had a close copy, the church of St Gregory known as Gagkashen, built at Ani around 1001, and a modern church in Yerevan follows its plan. The ruins were cleared between 1901 and 1907. A model of the cathedral is displayed in the Yerevan History Museum, and a drawing of the cathedral appeared on Armenia's first 100-dram banknote.

Getting there

The ruins are about 3.6 km east of central Vagharshapat, on the road to Yerevan, and only about 5 km from Zvartnots International Airport (EVN), which takes its name from them. Marshrutka line 203 from Yerevan's central (Kilikia) bus station to Etchmiadzin runs at least every half-hour and will drop passengers at the Zvartnots ruins; the trip from Yerevan takes 20–30 minutes. Many visitors combine the site with the cathedral and churches of Etchmiadzin on a day trip.