This Eurpoean country made Christianity its official religion in 301 AD

By: Safwan Salleh


Pious history
Armenia is a unique country in Europe with a population of only 3 million people. But it has a sizable place in spiritual history, most historians believe that in 301 AD, it became the first country in the world to adopt Christianity.

Today, majority of Armenians are Christian with 95%, and the country’s pious history can be traced back through some of its ancient sites and monuments. 


The spiritual leader
The first head of the Armenian Apostolic Church was Gregory the Illuminator, son of the nobleman named Anag who assassinated Armenia’s King Khosrov II. Gregory’s father was executed for his crime, but Gregory managed to flee to Cappadocia, where he was raised by bishop St. Firmilian.

As an adult, Gregory returned to his homeland in hopes of converting the Armenian king ‒ and, by extension, the Armenian people ‒ to Christianity. When he learned of Gregory’s homecoming, King Tiridates III, son of the murdered King Khosrov II, had Gregory imprisoned. The king insisted that his prisoner renounce Christianity, but Gregory refused to. After around thirteen years of imprisonment, Gregory had managed to convince Tiridates of the power of faith, converting the king himself into Christian. And so in 301 AD, Tiridates III declared Christianity the state religion of Armenia.

Traces of the past
The fortress of Garni is perched on the edge of a cliff near the Garni village in central Armenia’s Kotayk Province. Built in the 1st Century AD by King Tiridates I, the temple within the fortress predates the spread of Christianity in Armenia and is said to have been built for a sun god in Armenian mythology.
Many Pagan temples were destroyed when King Tiridates III declared Christianity the official state religion, but Garni is one of the few that survived. Today it stands as a symbol of Armenian Neopaganism, and receives more than 136,000 visitors annually, making it one of Armenia’s most popular tourist place.

Church of a saint
West of the Armenian capital city of Yerevan is Vagharshapat, a city known as the country’s ‘Holy Capital’. Located here is St. Gayane Church (pictured); constructed in 630 and now a Unesco World Heritage Site, St. Gayane was built on the site of the execution of Abbess Gayane, who was killed by King Tiridates III for being Christian prior to his own conversion. Gayane was named a saint by the Armenian Church, her grave lies under St. Gayane.

A former dungeon
Khor Virap is a monastery located in the Ararat Plain in south-east Armenia, where Tiridates III imprisoned Gregory the Illuminator upon his return.

The chapel of Khor Virap was first built in 642 over the dungeon to honour Gregory, and a larger chapel and monastery were added in 1662. Today, Khor Virap is one of the most visited sites in Armenia. Its chapel is a popular spot for marriages and baptisms.

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