Geography and power
Settlements existed in the area of Vagharshapat from prehistoric times. During different periods the city was known by such names as Artimed and Vardgesavan, while under the Arsacid king Vagharsh I in the early second century it was expanded and received the name Vagharshapat. From around 120 CE, it served as the capital of Arsacid Armenia.
The transition from Artashat to Vagharshapat was connected not only to the damage suffered by the old capital but also to the desire of the new dynasty to create its own center of power. Vagharshapat was located in the central part of the Ararat Plain, surrounded by rich agricultural lands and connected to the country’s principal roads. Royal residences, administrative buildings, and cultic structures were constructed there.
The historical significance of the city changed fundamentally at the beginning of the fourth century, when Armenia adopted Christianity as the state religion. According to tradition and church history, Gregory the Illuminator founded the Mother Cathedral there, which became the principal center of the Armenian Apostolic Church. From that moment, Vagharshapat simultaneously held the role of political and spiritual capital.
Historical evidence
The catholicosal seat was re-established at Echmiadzin in 1441, over a millennium after the city’s period as a royal residence. The traditional founding of the cathedral, the successive rebuilding of its fabric and the history of the ecclesiastical seat each have their own chronology.
Later history of the city
The political center was later transferred to Dvin, but Vagharshapat did not lose its importance. On the contrary, after state authority moved away, its spiritual role became even more clearly defined. The Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin and the churches of Saint Hripsime, Saint Gayane, and Shoghakat transformed the city into one of the principal sites of Armenian Christian memory. Vagharshapat thus became an exceptional capital whose influence survived not through administrative power but through religious authority.
Sources and further reading
Ագաթանգեղոս, Հայոց պատմություն · UNESCO, Cathedral and Churches of Echmiatsin and the Archaeological Site of Zvartnots.