Churches to Visit in Armenia
Armenia claims a title no other country can: the first nation on Earth to adopt Christianity as its state religion, traditionally dated to 301 AD, decades before Rome itself would do the same. Three sites carry that claim in three completely different ways — a cathedral that calls itself the oldest in the world, a monastery cut straight out of a mountainside, and a pit in the ground where the whole story is supposed to have started. None of them look anything like a Western European cathedral, and that's exactly what makes them worth the trip.
The Armenian Apostolic Church is a distinct branch of Oriental Orthodoxy, theologically separate from the Eastern Orthodox tradition of neighbouring Georgia or Russia — a distinction rooted in differing positions taken at the 5th-century Council of Chalcedon, and one worth understanding before you visit, since it isn't a minor technicality to Armenians themselves. Armenian church architecture has its own unmistakable vocabulary too: heavy stone construction, conical domes on tall drums, and, everywhere, khachkars — carved cross-stones, no two alike — that turn up on nearly every religious site in the country, ancient and modern alike.
Where to start
Etchmiadzin Cathedral
Traditionally the oldest cathedral in the world and the Mother See of the Armenian Apostolic Church — Armenia's equivalent of the Vatican.
Geghard Monastery
A UNESCO-listed monastery partly carved directly out of the cliff, named for the Holy Lance relic it once kept.
Khor Virap
Built above the pit where St Gregory the Illuminator was imprisoned, with the country's most famous view of Mount Ararat.
Practical notes for the whole country
| Opening hours | Most Armenian churches and monasteries have loose, unposted hours and are simply open through daylight, roughly 8 or 9am to 6–8pm depending on the season; museums and treasuries attached to them (as at Etchmiadzin) keep more fixed, staffed hours and often close one day a week |
|---|---|
| Admission | Free at all three sites in this guide, and at the great majority of Armenian churches generally — attached museums or treasuries can charge a separate, modest fee |
| Dress code | Modest and conservative: shoulders and knees covered for everyone, as at any working Armenian Apostolic church |
| Photography | Generally permitted for personal use both outside and inside; flash and tripods are best avoided, and discretion is expected during active services |
| Getting around | Yerevan is the natural base for all three churches in this guide, each reachable as a half-day or combined day trip: Etchmiadzin (20–35 minutes), Khor Virap (40 minutes to an hour) and Geghard (45 minutes to an hour, often paired with Garni Temple on the way) |
All three churches
- Etchmiadzin Cathedral Traditionally the oldest cathedral in the world, and the spiritual headquarters of the Armenian Apostolic Church.
- Geghard Monastery Chapels carved directly out of the cliff face of the Azat Gorge, named for a relic that now lives at Etchmiadzin.
- Khor Virap A monastery built over the pit where St Gregory the Illuminator was imprisoned, with Mount Ararat rising behind it.
Pair it with Georgia
Armenia and Georgia sit side by side in the Caucasus, and their churches make a natural double bill for anyone building a longer trip: two of the world's oldest national Christian traditions, theologically distinct from each other — Armenian Apostolic Christianity is Oriental Orthodox, Georgian Orthodoxy is Eastern Orthodox — but sharing a similar sense of age, scale and dramatic mountain setting. Yerevan and Tbilisi are commonly combined on a single Caucasus itinerary, connected by land or a short flight.
See the guide to churches in Georgia →
Coming next
This first Armenia chapter covers three of the country's essential Christian sites; more of Armenia's remarkable church heritage — Tatev Monastery, Noravank, Sevanavank and others — is on the list for later, built the same way as the rest of this guide — one region finished at a time, rather than published half-done everywhere at once.