Church of St. Katoghike

Among the numerous religious buildings in Yerevan, one of the most interesting is the Church of St. Katoghike, dating back to the 17th century. During archaeological excavations, however, ancient khachkars dating back to 1472 were discovered. After research, it turned out that they belong to an older church built on this site and bearing the name Surb Astvatsatsin (Armenian: Holy Mother of God). The hypothesis about the existence of the church was completely confirmed during the demolition of the Church of St. Katoghike, when its southern and northern walls, to which two sacristies were attached, were exposed. The oldest inscriptions on the above-mentioned walls date back to 1264. On the western wall inscriptions dating back to 1229, 1284 and the 16th century were found, and on the northern side inscriptions dating back to 1909 were found. This fact is important, since St. Astvatsatsin Church is the only one of the medieval churches in Yerevan that survived the devastating earthquake of 1679. With limited capacity for church events, the church serves as a chapel-oratory.