HOLY ETCHMIADZIN

Holy Etchmiadzin, the Mother See of the Armenian Church, located in the former capital city of Vagharshapt, near Yerevan. The location was chosen after St. Gregory received a vision of Christ in His glory, descending from the sky to strike the earth with a golden hammer, hence the name of the cathedral, which means "place where the Only [Begotten Son] descended." The present structure is from the 16th century, but the foundations of the orighinal 4th-century structure still exist below ground.