The village of Etchmiadzin is the religious centre of Armenia.

At the entrance to the village is Hripsime Church. Here the nun Hripsime died a martyrs‘ death. She fled with a group of nuns to Armenia from Roman Emperor, Diocletian. The Armenian king, Trdat saw the beautiful Hripsime, instantly fell in love with her, and wanted her as his wife. But the deeply religious young Christian woman rejected the pagan king and he therefore had thirty five nuns tortured and killed.

Surrounded by an old cemetery is another domed basilica, that of Gajane Church that dates back to the seventh century. A small crypt was built for the tomb of Abbess Gajane who was executed together with the nun, Hripsime. In 630 A.D., Catholicos Jezr ordered the building of Gajane Church, the fine wall paintings and splendid religious stonemasonry of which make it a cultural treasure.

In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries the interiors were redesigned by the Hovnatanjan Family of artists. Thus was created one of the few coloured churches in Armenia. The sacristy became the church museum with the ‘holy lance head’ of Roman soldier, Longinus, crosses and the famous right hands of the Catholicoi.

Magnificent liturgical robes recall the importance of Etchmiadzin as being the religious centre of Armenia.