Saint Gregory the Illuminator Cathedral

Saint Gregory the Illuminator Cathedral, at 5 Yervand Kochar Street in Yerevan, Armenia, is the largest Armenian Apostolic cathedral in the country and a flagship building of the independence era. It commemorates the 1700th anniversary of Armenia's adoption of Christianity as a state religion in 301 AD, and is named for Saint Gregory, who converted King Tiridates III. The cathedral was designed by architect Stepan Kurkchyan and funded largely by diaspora donors, notably Alex Manoogian. Construction began in 1997 and the building was consecrated in 2001, after a design that drew on medieval Armenian forms such as the churches of Ani and Zvartnots. The complex includes a main church seating about 1,700 people, a chapel, and a courtyard, and it is built of light tuff and stone with a tall central drum. A crypt contains the relics of Saint Gregory, brought from Naples in 2000, along with the remains of the victims of the genocide, which were buried beneath the structure of the building after an earlier proposal to demolish a nearby Soviet-era structure. Inside, the interior is open and high, with a large altar and murals in a modern idiom, and a bell tower stands beside the church. Services follow the Armenian liturgy and are accompanied by choral singing. Because it is a new building, the cathedral has no archaeological layers, but it represents the revival of religious life after decades of Soviet restrictions on worship. Visitors are expected to dress modestly, with covered shoulders and knees and women often covering their hair, and to be quiet during services. A visit generally takes 30 to 45 minutes, though weddings and baptisms on weekends can limit access. The cathedral is a short ride from the city centre, close to the Hrazdan gorge.