AGENCY FOR CONSERVATION
OF HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL MONUMENTS
CHURCH OF ST. HRIPSIME
(618 A.D.)
THE CHURCH OF ST. HRIPSIMÉ, A JEWEL OF INTRICATE DESIGN, WAS ERECTED IN 618 BY CATHOLICOS KOMITAS ATOP THE ORIGINAL FOURTH–CENTURY MAUSOLEUM CONTAINING THE REMAINS OF THE MARTYRED ST. HRIPSIMÉ. ON THE EXTERIOR, THE CHURCH IS A MASTERPIECE OF MONUMENTAL SCULPTURE WITH ITS CONICAL ROOF, SIXTEEN-SIDED DRUM, CORNER TOWERS, AND STEEP TRIANGULAR NICHES. THESE CREATE A PATTERN OF LIGHT AND SHADE ON THE WALL SURFACES AS WELL AS HELP PROTECT AGAINST EARTHQUAKE DAMAGE. THE INTERIOR DESIGN OF ST. HRIPSIMÉ IS AN UNUSUAL, COMPLEX CENTRAL–PLAN CHURCH CONSIDERED BY ARCHITECTURAL HISTORIANS TO BE SPECIFICALLY ARMENIAN IN ORIGIN. IN ADDITION TO THE LARGE FOUR APSES ON EACH SIDE, THERE ARE FOUR NARROW CYLINDRICAL, DIAGONAL NICHES WHICH LEAD TO FOUR SQUARE CHAMBERS IN THE CORNERS OF THE CHURCH. THIS INNOVATIVE PLAN CREATED BY ARMENIAN ARCHITECTS IS USED WITH VARIATIONS IN OTHER SEVENTH CENTURY ARMENIAN CHURCHES AND ECHOED IN LATER CHURCHES, SUCH AS THE MASTERPIECE OF AGHTAMAR AT LAKE VAN IN WHAT IS NOW TURKEY.
IN AGATHANGELOS’ HISTORY WRITTEN IN THE FIFTH-CENTURY, THE MARTYRDOM OF THE "YOUNG AND BEAUTIFUL" HRIPSIMÉ AT THE HANDS OF THE PAGAN ARMENIAN KING TRDAT LEADS TO ARMENIA’S ADOPTION OF CHRISTIANITY AS ITS OFFICIAL RELIGION IN 301 A.D., THE FIRST NATION IN THE WORLD TO DO SO. HRIPSIMÉ, A DEVOUT CHRISTIAN MAIDEN, HAD FLED TO ARMENIA FROM ROME TO ESCAPE A FORCED MARRIAGE TO THE ROMAN EMPEROR DIOCLETIAN (R. 284–305). THE PAGAN KING TRDAT, AFTER RECEIVING DIOCLETIAN’S LETTER DESCRIBING HER BEAUTY, DISCOVERS HER HIDING PLACE, AND FALLS IN LOVE WITH HER. SHE REFUSES HIS ADVANCES. HRIPSIMÉ IS EVENTUALLY MARTYRED, ALONG WITH HER COMPANIONS. IN THE EARLY FOURTH-CENTURY, ST. GREGORY THE ILLUMINATOR DESCRIBED A VISION IN WHICH CHRIST STRIKES THE GROUND WITH HIS GOLDEN HAMMER. ST. GREGORY SEES THE SITE WHERE HRIPSIMÉ WAS MARTYRED, MARKED BY A BASE OF RED, THE COLOR OF BLOOD, BELOW “COLUMNS OF CLOUDS, CAPITALS OF FIRE AND ON TOP, A CROSS OF LIGHT". HE IS TOLD BY CHRIST TO ERECT A MEMORIAL TO HRIPSIMÉ THERE. WHEN KING TRDAT WAS CONVERTED TO CHRISTIANITY, ”ST. GREGORY HIMSELF ... SET OUT THE FOUNDATIONS ... WHERE THE YOUNG HRIPSIMÉ HAD BEEN MARTYRED.”
(WITH THE COOPERATION AND ASSISTANCE OF THE ARMENIAN LIBRARY AND MUSEUM OF AMERICA, IN WATERTOWN, MASSACHUSETTS.)
