Saint Gayane Church

Saint Gayane Church is located in the southern outskirts of the city of Vagharshapat (Echmiadzin) in the Armavir region of Armenia, southeast of the Cathedral. According to the sources, it was built in 630. by the Catholicos of Ezr Nigets, on the site of the chapel-chapel. According to Agathanghegos, that chapel was built at the beginning of the 4th century on the grave of the Hripsimian virgin Gayane. The church is considered one of the best examples of the first period of Armenian church architecture (since 2000 it has been included in the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites). With its architectural solutions, it belongs to the domed-basilica-type churches, the composition of which was developed in the V-VII centuries (the Tekori, Bagavani, Mren and Odzun temples also belong to this type).

On the eastern side of the rectangular, east-west plan, the senior tabernacle and two square storage rooms are located. In the southeast vault is the entrance leading to the tomb of the Virgin Gayane located under the senior altar. The inner space of the prayer hall is divided into three naves by four gables, and the dome rises on the square formed by the gables. The internal space is cross-shaped, which is manifested in the external volumes by the intersection of the longitudinal and transverse two-pitched roofs, the octagonal drum, crowned with the top of the dome, rises on the resulting square. The church has three entrances (southern, western, northern), each of which opens a magnificent architectural scene with harmonious and expressive architectural elements (arches, arches, walls, system of trumpets, etc.). The exterior of the church is quite simple. the doors are paneled, the arches of the windows are ornamented.

The cathedral, which was significantly destroyed over the centuries, underwent renovation works for the first time during the reign of Philip the Catholicos in 1652, when the destroyed walls, the drum and the dome of the dome were restored. And decades later, during the enthronement of the Catholicos Yeghiazar A Aintaptsi (1682-1691), a three-arched hall-court was built by the western or main entrance, where high-ranking clergy are buried (all Armenian Catholicos Yeghiazar A Aintaptsi, Abraham B Mshetsi, Simeon A from Yerevan, Hovsep Arghtyun). Khent, Makhluto, Khachatur Abovyan's son Vardan and a number of notable clergymen are buried in the cemeteries around the church. The archway to the church and the rooms on either side were built in the 1880s. In the 1960s and 1970s, the church underwent major renovation works (the floor was paved, the damaged stones were replaced with new ones, the walls and domes were cleaned of plaster, the roof of the western hall was repaired, etc.).

Inside the church and in the cemeteries around it, there are two dozen khachkars from the X-XVII centuries. In the cemetery, 80 m west of the church, there are two memorials, one of which is dedicated to Annik Derdzakyan (1960s, edited by R. Israelyan), and the other to the Karno Armenian martyred during the Great Genocide (1981, edited by A. Galikyan). ). Built in the 7th century and built in 1845 have been preserved on the territory of the church. the repaired well, as well as during the reign of Catholicos Simeon of Yerevan in 1764. dug cellar-ice house.