Saint Hripsime Church ( hy, Սուրբ Հռիփսիմե եկեղեցի, ''Surb Hřip’simē yekeghetsi''; sometimes ''Hripsimeh'') is a seventh century

Armenian Apostolic , native_name_lang = hy , icon = Armenian Apostolic Church logo.svg , icon_width = 100px , icon_alt = , image = Էջմիածնի_Մայր_Տաճար.jpg , imagewidth = 250px , a ...

church in the city of Vagharshapat (Etchmiadzin), Armenia. It is one of the oldest surviving churches in the country. The church was erected by Catholicos Komitas to replace the original mausoleum built by Catholicos Sahak the Great in 395 AD that contained the remains of the martyred Saint Hripsime to whom the church is dedicated. The current structure was completed in 618 AD. It is known for its fine Armenian-style architecture of the classical period, which has influenced many other Armenian churches since. It was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site along with other nearby churches, including

Etchmiadzin Cathedral Etchmiadzin Cathedral) or simply Etchmiadzin. Alternatively spelled as Echmiadzin, Ejmiatsin, and Edjmiadsin. ( hy, Էջմիածնի մայր տաճար, Ēǰmiatsni mayr tačar) is the mother church of the Armenian Apostolic Church, located i ...

, Armenia's mother church, in 2000.

History

A Hellenistic temple, similar to the

Temple of Garni The Temple of Garni ( hy, Գառնիի տաճար, ''Gaṙnii tačar'') is the only standing Greco-Roman colonnaded building in Armenia and the former Soviet Union. Built in the Ionic order, it is located in the village of Garni, in central A ...

and dedicated to a pagan goddess, stood in the place of the church prior to the fourth century. During excavations in 1958 the foundation of a monumental stone building with Hellenistic ornaments was found under the supporting column. Hripsime, along with the abbess Gayane and 38 unnamed nuns, are traditionally considered the first Christian martyrs in Armenia's history. They were persecuted, tortured, and eventually killed by king Tiridates III of Armenia. According to the chronicler Agathangelos, after conversion to Christianity in 301, Tiridates and Gregory the Illuminator built a

martyrium A martyrium (Latin) or martyrion (Greek), plural ''martyria'', sometimes anglicized martyry (pl. martyries), is a church or shrine built over the tomb of a Christian martyr. It is associated with a specific architectural form, centered on a cent ...

dedicated to Hripsime at the location of her martyrdom, which was half buried underground. Excavations around the church have uncovered remains of several tortured women buried in early Christian manner, which, according to Agop Jack Hacikyan et al., "seem to support the story of Agathangelos." In 395 Patriarch

Sahak Partev Isaac or Sahak of Armenia (354–439) was Catholicos (or Patriarch) of the Armenian Apostolic Church. He is sometimes known as "Isaac the Great," and as "Sahak the Parthian" (Armenian: Սահակ Պարթեւ, Sahak Parthew", Parthian: ''Sahak-i ...

(Isaac the Parthian) rebuilt or built a new martyrium, which had been destroyed by Shapur II of the

Sasanian Empire The Sasanian () or Sassanid Empire, officially known as the Empire of Iranians (, ) and also referred to by historians as the Neo-Persian Empire, was the History of Iran, last Iranian empire before the early Muslim conquests of the 7th-8th cen ...

in the 360s. The current building was erected during the reign of Catholicos Komitas (615–628), according to an account of contemporary chronicler

Sebeos Sebeos () was a 7th-century Armenian bishop and historian. Little is known about the author, though a signature on the resolution of the Ecclesiastical Council of Dvin in 645 reads 'Bishop Sebeos of Bagratunis.' His writings are valuable as one o ...

and two inscriptions, one on the west facade and the other on the east apse. It replaced the earlier mausoleum of Hripsime. The church is suggested by scholars to have been completed in 618. The dome was probably restored in the 10th or 11th centuries, although some scholars have argued that it is the original 7th century construction. Հռիփսիմեի վանքը (1879)

The church was dilapidated and abandoned by the early 17th century. According to an inscription on the western façade, the church was renovated by Catholicos Philipos, in 1653. Under his commission an open narthex ( gavit) was erected in front of the western entrance. A bell tower was built on the narthex in 1790 under the commission of Catholicos Ghukas I of Karin. In 1776 the church was fortified with a brick wall and towers on the corners by Catholicos

Simeon I of Yerevan Simeon I of Yerevan or Simeon Yerevantsi ( hy, Սիմէոն Ա Երեւանցի; 1710 – July 26, 1780) was the Catholicos of All Armenians from 1763 to 1780. In 1771, he founded a printing press at the Etchmiadzin Cathedral, the first in Armenia ...

. In 1880 the eastern and southern walls were built of smoothly hewn stone. The church underwent considerable renovation in 1898. Its foundations were strengthened and the roof and dome were repaired in 1936. In 1958 plaster from was removed from the interior walls and the interior floor was lowered. The bell tower was renovated in 1987.

Architecture

St. Hripsime Church is a domed tetraconch enclosed in a rectangle, with two angular niches on the northern and southern side. German art historian

Wilhelm Lübke Wilhelm Lübke (17 January 1826 – 5 April 1893) was a German people, German art historian, born in Dortmund. He studied at University of Bonn, Bonn and Humboldt University of Berlin, Berlin; was a professor of architecture at the Berlin Bauak ...

wrote that the church is built on "a most complicated variation of the cruciform ground-plan." ;Reception The monumental exterior of the church is "considered one of the great achievements of medieval Armenian architecture." It has been described as a "gem of Armenian architecture" and "one of the most complex compositions in Armenian architecture." Along with

Saint Gayane Church The Saint Gayane Church ( hy, Սուրբ Գայանե եկեղեցի; pronounced ''Surb Gayane'') is a 7th-century Armenian church in Vagharshapat (Etchmiadzin), the religious center of Armenia. It is located within walking distance from the Etch ...

, it stands as a "model of the austere beauty of early Armenian ecclesiastical architecture." ;Imitations The church is not the earliest example of this architectural form, however, the form is widely known in architectural history as the "Hripsime-type" since the church is the best-known example of the form. It has also been variously named "Jvari-type" or "Jvari-Hripsime-type" for Jvari in Georgia. Notable churches with similar plans include the Surb Hovhannes (Saint John) Church of Avan (6th century), Surb Gevorg (Saint George) Church of Garnahovit (6th century), Church of the Holy Cross at Soradir (6th century), Targmanchats monastery of Aygeshat (7th century), Holy Cross Cathedral of Aghtamar (10th century), and Surb Astvatsatsin (Holy Mother of God) Church at Varagavank (11th century). The architectural form is also found in neighboring Georgia, where examples include the

Ateni Sioni Church The Ateni Sioni Church ( ka, ატენის სიონი) is an early 7th-century Georgian Orthodox church in the village of Ateni, some south of the city of Gori, Georgia. It stands in a setting of Ateni gorge in the Tana River valley ...

(7th century), Jvari monastery (7th century), and Martvili Monastery (10th century).

Gallery

File:Hripsime Church drone 2021.jpg File:Surp Hripsime Church 618AD.jpg File:S. Hripsime.JPG File:Hripsime church Jan 2016 dome exterior.jpg File:Hripsime church Jan 2016 belfry.jpg File:Armenia - St. Hripsime Dome (5037429718).jpg File:Hripsime Church drone 2021.2.jpg File:Hripsime church Jan 2016 walls.jpg File:Hripsime1.jpg

Artistic and historic depictions

File:View of Echmiadzin in Armenia Mikhail Ivanov.jpg, ''View of Etchmiadzin'' by Mikhail Ivanov, 1783. St Hripsime Church can be seen on the left File:Grigory Gagarin. Escarmouche de Persans et de Kurdes.jpg, ''Kurds and Persians attacking Vagharshapat'' by Grigory Gagarin, 1847 File:Hripsime 1878.png, 1878 File:Ripsime Lynch.png, From

H. F. B. Lynch Henry Finnis Blosse Lynch, Master of Arts, MA, FRGS (18 April 1862 – 24 November 1913) was a British traveller, businessman, and Liberal Party (UK), Liberal Parliament of the United Kingdom, Member of Parliament. Biography Lynch was the only ...

's 1901 book on Armenia File:Монастырь Эчмиадзин.jpg, from a 1901 Russian book File:Strzygowski Hripsime.png, a 1911 photo reproduced in Strzygowski's 1918 book File:Հռիփսիմեի վանքը. Էջմիածին (1913).jpg, by

Yeghishe Tadevosyan Yeghishe Martirosi Tadevosyan ( hy, Եղիշե Մարտիրոսի Թադևոսյան; September 24, 1870 — January 22 1936) was a Soviet Armenian painter, associated with the Peredvizhniki and Mir Iskusstva movements. He was known for his lands ...

, 1913 File:No-nb bldsa 6d114.jpg, by

Fridtjof Nansen Fridtjof Wedel-Jarlsberg Nansen (; 10 October 186113 May 1930) was a Norwegian polymath and Nobel Peace Prize laureate. He gained prominence at various points in his life as an explorer, scientist, diplomat, and humanitarian. He led the team t ...

, 1925 File:St. Vartan Cathedral 2016 Eastern Diocese center Hripsime relief.jpg, A relief of St. Hripsime Church on the headquarters of the Eastern Diocese of the Armenian Church of America next to the

St. Vartan Cathedral St. Vartan Armenian Cathedral ( hy, Սուրբ Վարդան Մայր Տաճար) in New York City is the first cathedral of the Armenian Apostolic Church to be constructed in North America. It is located in New York City on the corner of Second ...

in Manhattan, New York File:American Museum of Natural History Armenia exhibition Hirpsime Church model.jpg, Model of the church displayed at the

American Museum of Natural History The American Museum of Natural History (abbreviated as AMNH) is a natural history museum on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. In Theodore Roosevelt Park, across the street from Central Park, the museum complex comprises 26 inter ...

in New York File:Hripsime_Soviet_stamp.png, A 1988 Soviet stamp depicting the church File:200 Armenian dram - 1993 (obverse).png, The church was depicted on 200

Armenian dram The dram ( hy, դրամ; sign: ֏; abbreviation: դր.; ISO code: AMD) is the currency of Armenia, and is also used in the neighboring unrecognized Republic of Artsakh. It was historically subdivided into 100 luma (). The Central Bank of Armen ...

banknotes (in circulation from 1993 to 2004)

References

Bibliography

;Academic articles * * * ;Published books * * *

External links

Saint Hripsime Church

About Saint Hripsime Church
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Hripsime Church, Echmiadzin 7th-century churches in Armenia Buildings and structures in Armavir Province Christian monasteries in Armenia Oriental Orthodox congregations established in the 13th century Tourist attractions in Armavir Province World Heritage Sites in Armenia Christianity in the Sasanian Empire Sasanian Armenia Churches completed in 618