«Մասնակից:ԱշոտՏՆՂ/2»–ի խմբագրումների տարբերություն

| height_max = not available; over {{convert|27|m|ft}}{{efn-|name=|group=N|reference=Grigoryan wrote in 1986 that even the main dimensions of the cathedral are unknown.{{sfn|Grigoryan|1986|p=77|ps=: "...չկան նույնիսկ նրա հիմնական չափագրությունները...}} The belfry, which is shorter than the dome, is reportedly {{convert|27|m|ft}} high.<ref name="armenianchurch.org"/>}}

'''Etchmiadzin Cathedral'''{{efn-|name=|group=N|reference=Less commonly referred to as the '''Cathedral of Holy Etchmiadzin''',<ref>{{cite book|last=Azadian|first=Edmond Y.|title=History on the Move: Views, Interviews and Essays on Armenian Issues|year=1999|publisher=Wayne State University Press|location=Detroit|isbn=978-0-8143-2916-0|page=211}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Religions of the World: A Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Beliefs and Practices|year=2010|publisher=[[ABC-CLIO]]|location=Santa Barbara, California|isbn=978-1-59884-204-3|page=186|edition=2nd|editors=Melton, J. Gordon; Baumann, Martin}}</ref> '''Holy Etchmiadzin''' (Սուրբ Էջմիածին, ''Surb Ejmiatsin'') or simply '''Etchmiadzin'''. Alternatively spelled '''Echmiadzin''', '''Ejmiatsin''',<ref>{{cite web|title=Ejmiatsin|url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/181608/Ejmiatsin|publisher=''[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]''|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140404003136/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/181608/Ejmiatsin|archivedate=4 April 2014}}</ref> and '''Edjmiadsin'''.{{sfn|Adalian|2010|p=297}}}} ({{lang-hy|Էջմիածնի Մայր Տաճար}}, {{transl|hy|''Ēǰmiatsni Mayr Tačar''}}) is the [[Mother Church#.22Church.22 as building|mother church]] of the [[Armenian Apostolic Church]],{{efn-|name=|group=N|reference=The cathedral is also the central building of the [[Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin]], the administrative headquarters of the Armenian Church, which besides the cathedral includes a number of buildings, most prominent of which is the Pontifical Residence (Veharan), the official seat of the [[Catholicos of All Armenians]]. The entire complex is sometimes referred to as '''Monastery of Etchmiadzin'''.<ref name="Hewsen"/>}} located in the city of [[Vagharshapat]], Armenia.{{efn-|name=|group=N|reference=The city has been called Vagharshapat for the most part of its history. It officially bore the name Etchmiadzin between 1945 and 1995. Nowadays, the terms Etchmiadzin and Vagharshapat are interchangeably used.<ref>{{cite web|title=Պատմաաշխարհագրական ակնարկ [Historical-geographic overview]|url=http://armavir.gov.am/aknark/|publisher=Armavir Province: Armenian Ministry of Territorial Administration|accessdate=15 April 2014|language=hy|quote=...Վաղարշապատ (1945-1995թթ. կոչվել է Էջմիածին) քաղաքը...}}</ref>}} According to most scholars,{{efn-|name=|group=N|reference=Architecture researcher Vahagn Grigoryan,{{sfn|Grigoryan|2012a|p=30|ps=: "Ուրեմն, Հայաստանի առաջին Կաթողիկե հաստատությունն ու շինությունը Վաղարշապատի Մայր տաճարն է:"}} author & former priest Torkom Postajian,<ref>{{cite book|last=Postajian|first=Torkom|title=The Armenian Church and the Others|date=2005|location=Glendale, California|oclc=216938598|quote=...the first Armenian Christian cathedral, which was called "Echmiadzin" (the Only-Begotten Son of God Descended).}}</ref> historians [[Tadevos Hakobyan]],<ref>{{cite book|first=Tadevos|last=Hakobian|article=Մայրաքաղաքը և քաղաքները. Էջմիածին [The capital and the cities: Etchmiadzin]|title=[[Soviet Armenian Encyclopedia]]|volume=13|year=1987|publisher=Armenian Encyclopedia Publishing|location=Yerevan|language=hy|page=623|quote=301—303-ին այստեղ հիմնվեց Կաթողիկե եկեղեցին՝ Հայաստանի քրիստ․ առաջին Մայր տաճարը։}}</ref> Z. Harutiunian,{{sfn|Harutiunian|1978|p=66|ps=: "...հիմնում (301-303) Կաթողիկե եկեղեցի՝ Հայաստանի քրիստոնեական անդրանիկ Մայր տաճար Ս. Էջմիածինը..."}} and orientalist Hasmik Hmayakyan,<ref name="Hmayakyan"/> support the view of Etchmiadzin being Armenia's first cathedral. [[Robert W. Thomson]], commenting on Agathangelos' ''History of the Armenians'', writes that Etchmiadzin was neither the first church nor the first cathedral in Armenia.<ref name="Piccolotto & Shahinian">{{cite book|editor1-last=Piccolotto|editor1-first=Moreno|editor2-last=Shahinian|editor2-first=Sarkis|title=Armenien: Tagebuch einer Reise in das Land des Ararat|date=1996|publisher=Institut für Hochbautechnik [[ETH Zurich]]|location=Zürich|isbn=9783728122926|page=110|quote=The cathedral of Edjmiadzin is according to Thomson neither the first cathedral nor the first church built by Krikor. It was preceded by the church the latter had built at Ashtishat, in Western Armenia...}}</ref>}} it was the first [[cathedral]] (but not the first church){{efn-|name=|group=N|reference=Etchmiadzin is sometimes called Armenia's first [[Church (building)|church building]].<ref>{{cite book|contribution=Մայր աթոռ Սուրբ Էջմիածին [Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin]|title=Դպրոցական Մեծ Հանրագիտարան, Գիրք II [Great School Encyclopedia Book II]|date=2010|publisher=[[Armenian Encyclopedia]]|location=Yerevan|url=http://www.encyclopedia.am/pages.php?bId=2&hId=1357|language=hy|quote=Սբ Էջմիածնի գլխավոր շինությունը Մայր տաճարն է. այն հայկական առաջին եկեղեցին է...}}</ref><ref name="Oxford History of Christian Worship">{{cite book|editor=[[Geoffrey Wainwright|Wainwright, Geoffrey]]|editor2=Westerfield Tucker, Karen B.|title=The Oxford History of Christian Worship|year=2005|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|isbn=978-0-19-513886-3|page=147|quote=In a vision, Gregory was shown to build the first church in the country, in Etchmiadzin...}}</ref> However, this claim has found little support among scholars. [[Robert W. Thomson|Thomson]],<ref name="Piccolotto & Shahinian"/> [[Stepan Mnatsakanian|Mnatsakanian]],{{sfn|Mnatsakanian|1987|p=150|ps=: "Таким образом, первое церковное здание в стране было возведено именно в Аштишате, а не в Вагаршапате, как это иногда отмечается в литературе."}} and Grigoryan{{sfn|Grigoryan|2012a|p=26|ps=: "Ուրեմն, Հայաստանի առաջին եկեղեցի հաստատությունը Աշտիշատի սուրբ Երրորդություն եկեղեցին է:"}} have all rejected this claim and stated that Armenia's first church was in Ashtishat, in [[Western Armenia]]'s [[Taron (historic Armenia)|Taron]] region.}} built in [[Kingdom of Armenia (antiquity)|ancient Armenia]], and is considered the [[List of oldest church buildings|oldest cathedral in the world]].{{efn-|name=|group=N|reference=According to ''Encyclopedia of the Peoples of Africa and the Middle East'', it is "generally regarded" as the oldest cathedral in the world,<ref name="Encyclopedia of the Peoples of Africa and the Middle East">{{cite book|title=Encyclopedia of the Peoples of Africa and the Middle East|year=2008|publisher=[[Infobase Publishing]]|location=New York|isbn=978-1-4381-2676-0|page=65|editor=Stokes, Jamie|quote=Etchmiatzin is located in the west of modern Armenia, close to the border with Turkey, and its fourth-century cathedral is generally regarded as the oldest in the world.}}</ref> while historian of Christian-Muslim relations Steven Gertz wrote in ''[[Christianity Today]]'' that Etchmiadzin is regarded as such "according to some scholars."<ref>{{cite journal|last=Gertz|first=Steven|title=How Armenia "Invented" Christendom|journal=[[Christianity Today]]|location=Carol Stream, Illinois|publisher=Christianity Today International|issn=0009-5753|date=1 January 2005|issue=85|url=http://www.christianitytoday.com/ch/2005/issue85/8.46.html}}</ref> Among those who support this view are French-Armenian architect [[Édouard Utudjian]],<ref>{{cite book|last=Utudjian|first=Édouard|title=Armenian Architecture: 4th to 17th Century|year=1968|publisher=Editions A. Morancé|location=Paris|oclc=464421|page=7|authorlink=Édouard Utudjian|quote=...the oldest cathedral in Christendom, that of Etchmiadzin, founded in the 4th century.}}</ref> [[Armenologists]] Sarkis Papajian,<ref>{{cite book|last=Papajian|first=Sarkis|title=A brief history of Armenia|date=1974|publisher=[[Armenian Evangelical Union of North America]]|location=Fresno, California|quote=...he built the Cathedral of Etchmiadzin (The descent of the Only Begotten). It is the oldest Christian Cathedral in existence.}}</ref> Elisabeth Bauer-Manndorff,<ref>{{cite book|last=Bauer-Manndorff|first=Elisabeth|title=Armenia: Past and Present|year=1981|publisher=Reich Verlag|location=Lucerne|oclc=8063377|quote=Etchmiadzin, with the world's oldest cathedral and the seat of the Catholicos, draws tourists from all over the world.}}</ref> priest & professor of liturgical studies Michael Daniel Findikyan,<ref>{{cite web|last=Findikyan|first=Michael Daniel|title=Eastern Liturgy in the West: The Case of Armenian Church|url=http://ism.yale.edu/sites/default/files/files/Eastern%20Liturgy%20in%20the%20West.pdf|publisher=[[Yale University]]|accessdate=4 July 2014|quote=...the spot on which the first cathedral of Christendom would be built.}}</ref> and others.<ref>{{cite book|editor1-last=Woodsworth|editor1-first=Judith|editor2-last=Delisle|editor2-first=Jean|editor1-link=Judith Woodsworth|title=Translators through History|contribution=Mesrop Mashtots and the flowering of Armenian culture|date=2012|publisher=[[John Benjamins Publishing Company]]|location=Amsterdam|isbn=9789027273819|page=6|edition=rev.|quote=...Echmiadzin Cathedral, the first cathedral in Christendom.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Benedict|first=C. T.|title=One God in One Man|date=2007|publisher=AuthorHouse|location=Milton Keynes|isbn=9781434301062|page=121|quote=The Holy Etchmiadzin cathedral, dates back to the fourth century, and is thought to be the oldest Christian cathedral in the world.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Holy Etchmiadzin|url=http://www.armenianchurch-ed.net/our-church/holy-etchmiadzin/|publisher=Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern)|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140613183602/http://www.armenianchurch-ed.net/our-church/holy-etchmiadzin/|archivedate=13 June 2014|location=New York|quote=The cathedral dates back to the 4th century, and is reckoned the oldest Christian cathedral in world.}}</ref>}}

According to tradition, the cathedral was built between 301 and 303<ref name="Melik-Bakhshyan"/>{{efn-|name=|group=N|reference=[[Malachia Ormanian]] suggested that the cathedral was built within seven months, from February to August 303 because "the construction material was ready and the building was not huge and probably, partially made of wood and the people's desire and effort [to build the cathedral] was great." He added, "It's not impossible to think that the base of the preexisting temple could have been used." Architecture researcher Vahagn Grigoryan dismisses these dates as "impossible" and states that at least several years were needed to built the cathedral. He cites [[Agathangelos]], who does not mention the cathedral in an episode that took place in 306. He instead suggests the usage of the span of 302 to 325—the reign of Gregory the Illuminator as Catholicos.{{sfn|Grigoryan|2012a|pp=28-29}}}} near the royal palace in then Armenian capital city of [[Vagharshapat]],{{sfn|Sahinian|Zarian|Ghazarian|1978|p=71}} on the location of a pagan temple.{{efn-|name=|group=N|reference=[[Alexander Sahinian]] dated the temple to the [[Urartian]] period.{{sfn|Arakelian|Yeremian|Arevshatian|Bartikian|1984|p=571}} (An Urartian [[stele]] was uncovered during archaeological excavations in the 1950s).<ref name="csufresno"/> The temple was dedicated to either goddess [[Anahit]]{{sfn|Payaslian|2007|p=37|ps=: "Churches replaced old pagan shrines in Ani and Vagharshapat; in the latter, the temple of Anahit was replaced by the Cathedral of Holy Echmiadzin...}}<ref>{{cite book|last=Bournoutian|first=George A.|authorlink1=George Bournoutian|title=A History of the Armenian People: Pre-history to 1500 A.D|date=1993|publisher=Mazda Publishers|location=Costa Mesa, California|isbn=9780939214969|page=64|quote=Following Gregory's vision, the great temple of Anahit in Vagharshapat was replaced by the cathedral of Edjmiadsin.}}</ref> or archangel [[Amesha Spenta|Sandaramet]],<ref name="Melik-Bakhshyan"/><ref name="Hmayakyan">{{cite journal|first=Hasmik|last=Hmayakyan|url=http://vahagnakanch.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/hokevor-jarankaganutyune.pdf|title=Հոգևոր ավանդույթների ժառանգությունը (Պտղաբերության պաշտամունքից մինչև քրիստոնեություն) [Heritage of spiritual heritage (From fertility cult to Christianity)]|journal=21st Century|publisher=[[Noravank Foundation]]|volume=2|issue=8|year=2005|location=Yerevan|language=hy|p=169|quote= Հետագայում Կաթողիկե եկեղեցին (Էջմիածինը՝ Հայաստանի քրիստոնեական առաջին տաճարը) ըստ Ագաթանգեղոսի վկայության, կառուցվում է Տրդատ թագավորի, Գրիգոր Լուսավորչի և ժողովրդի կողմից ավերված Սանդարամետի մեհյանի տեղում:}}</ref><ref name="Avetisyan">{{cite book|last=Avetisyan|first=Kamsar|authorlink1=:hy:Կամսար Ավետիսյան|title=Հայրենագիտական էտյուդներ [Armenian studies sketches]|date=1979|publisher=Sovetakan Grogh|location=Yerevan|page=[http://armenianhouse.org/avetisyan/taron.html 200]|language=hy|quote=....Էջմիածնի Մայր տաճարը ... որտեղ գտնվում էր Սանդարամետի գետնափոր մեհյանը։}}</ref> both figures in [[Armenian mythology]].}} The [[Kingdom of Armenia (antiquity)|Kingdom of Armenia]] under [[Tiridates III of Armenia|Tiridates III]] became the first country in the world to adopt Christianity as a state religion in 301.{{efn-|name=|group=N|reference=301 AD is the traditional date,<ref>{{cite book|first=Peter|last=Balakian|title=[[The Burning Tigris]]|year=2009|publisher=HarperCollins|location=New York|isbn=978-0-06-186017-1|page=29|authorlink=Peter Balakian}}</ref> first calculated by historian [[Mikayel Chamchian]].{{sfn|Panossian|2006|p=106}} A growing number of authors argue that the correct date is 314 by citing the [[Edict of Milan]].{{sfn|Panossian|2006|p=42}}<ref>{{cite book|title=The Oxford Companion to Christian Thought|year=2000|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-860024-4|page=39|editor=[[Adrian Hastings|Hastings, Adrian]]; Mason, Alistair; Pyper, Hugh}}</ref> [[Elizabeth Redgate]] writes that "the scholarly consensus is to prefer c. 314."<ref>{{cite book|last=Redgate|first=A. E.|title=The Armenians|year=2000|publisher=[[Wiley-Blackwell|Blackwell Publishing]]|location=Oxford|isbn=9780631220374|authorlink=Elizabeth Redgate|p=314}}</ref>}} According to ''History of the Armenians'' ({{circa|460}}) by [[Agathangelos]], Armenia's patron saint [[Gregory the Illuminator]] had a vision of [[Jesus Christ]] descending from heaven and striking the earth with a golden hammer to show where the cathedral should be built. Hence, the patriarch gave the church the name of Etchmiadzin (էջ ''ēĵ'' "descent" + մի ''mi'' "only" + [[:wikt:-ա-|-ա-]] ''-a-'' ([[Interfix|linking element]]) + ծին ''tsin'' "begotten"),<ref>{{cite web|title=Feast of the Cathedral of Holy Etchmiadzin|url=http://www.araratian-tem.am/?page=holidays&id=1873#|publisher=Araratian Patriarchal Diocese of the Armenian Holy Apostolic Church|accessdate=14 November 2013}}</ref> which translates to "the Descent of the Only-Begotten <nowiki>[</nowiki>[[Son of God]]<nowiki>]</nowiki>."<ref name="Hewsen"/><ref name="Oxford History of Christian Worship"/> However, the name Etchmiadzin did not come into use until the 15th century,<ref name="Melik-Bakhshyan"/> while earlier sources call it "Cathedral of Vagharshapat" (Վաղարշապատի Կաթողիկե եկեղեցի ''Vağaršapati Kat'oğike ekeghetsi''){{sfn|Arakelian|Yeremian|Arevshatian|Bartikian|1984|p=205}}{{sfn|Grigoryan|2012a|p=27}} or simply ''Kat'oghike'' (Կաթողիկե, literally "Cathedral").<ref name="csufresno"/>{{efn-|name=|group=N|reference=[[Malachia Ormanian]] defined "katoghike" as "[[cathedral]]" and wrote that the word was used particularly for the Etchmiadzin Cathedral. In modern Armenian, "katoghike" is also used to refer to the [[Catholic Church]]. It is derived from the Ancient Greek word [[:wikt:καθολικός|καθολικός]] ''katholikos'', which means "universal". The cathedral has been so called as a description of the "universality" of [[Christian Church|the Church]].<ref name="araratian-tem"/>}} The Feast of the Cathedral of Holy Etchmiadzin (Տոն Կաթողիկե Սբ. Էջմիածնի) is celebrated by the Armenian Church 64 days after [[Easter]], during which "a special hymn is sung, written by the 8th century Catholicos [[Sahak III|Sahak III of Dzorapor]], telling of St. Gregory's vision and the Cathedral's construction."<ref name="araratian-tem">{{cite web|title=Տոն Կաթողիկե Սբ. Էջմիածնի [Feast of the Cathedral of Holy Etchmiadzin]|url=http://www.araratian-tem.am/?page=holidays&id=1873|publisher=Araratian Patriarchal Diocese|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140329220716/http://www.araratian-tem.am/?page=holidays&id=1873|archivedate=29 March 2014|language=hy}}</ref>

In 387, Armenia was [[Peace of Acilisene|partitioned]] between the [[Roman Empire]] and the [[Sasanian Empire]]. The eastern part of Armenia where Etchmiadzin was located remained under the rule of Armenian vassal kings subject to Persia until 428, when the Armenian Kingdom was dissolved.<ref name="Hacikyan">{{cite book|last1=Hacikyan|first1=Agop Jack|authorlink1=Agop Jack Hacikyan|last2=Basmajian|first2=Gabriel|last3=Franchuk|first3=Edward S.|last4=Ouzounian|first4=Nourhan|title=The Heritage of Armenian Literature: From the Oral Tradition to the Golden Age|volume=1|year=2000|publisher=Wayne State University Press|location=Detroit|isbn=978-0-8143-2815-6|page=168}}</ref> In 450, in an attempt to impose [[Zoroastrianism]] on Armenians, Sasanian King [[Yazdegerd II]] built a [[fire temple]] inside the cathedral.{{sfn|Arakelian|Yeremian|Arevshatian|Bartikian|1984|p=572}} The pyre of the fire temple was unearthed under the altar of the east apse during the excavations in the 1950s.<ref name="csufresno"/>{{efn-|name=|group=N|reference=The remains of the 4th century apse, the fire temple and other architectural details are now kept at a special structure built relatively recently under the east apse.{{sfn|Arakelian|Yeremian|Arevshatian|Bartikian|1984|p=572}}}}

By the last quarter of the 5th century the cathedral was dilapidated.{{sfn|Hasratyan|2003|p=269}} According to [[Ghazar Parpetsi]], it was rebuilt from the foundations by ''[[marzban]]'' (governor) of [[Persian Armenia]] [[Vahan Mamikonian]] in 483/4,{{sfn|Hasratyan|2003|p=268}} when the country was relatively stable,{{sfn|Sahinian|Zarian|Ghazarian|1978|p=72}} following the [[Battle of Avarayr|struggle for religious freedom]] against Persia.{{sfn|Hasratyan|2003|p=268}} Most{{sfn|Hasratyan|2003|p=269}} researchers have concluded that, thus, the church was converted into [[Cruciform#Cruciform architectural plan|cruciform church]] and mostly took its current form.{{efn-|name=|group=N|reference="In 483/484&nbsp;... the basic core of the current structure was created..."<ref name="Hewsen"/> "483-484 Reconstructed by Vahan Mamikonyan. Etchmiadzin develops the design we see today."<ref name="armenianchurch.org"/>}} The new church was very different from the original one and "consisted of quadric-apsidal hall built of dull, grey stone containing four free-standing cross-shaped pillars disdained to support a stone cupola." The new cathedral was "in the form of a square enclosing a [[Greek cross]] and contains two chapels, one on either side of the east apse."<ref name="Hewsen"/> According to [[Robert H. Hewsen]], the design of the new church was a mixture of the design of a [[Zoroastrian]] [[fire temple]] and a mausoleum of [[classical antiquity]].<ref name="Hewsen"/>

Although the seat of the Catholicos was transferred to [[Dvin (ancient city)|Dvin]] sometime in the 460s–470s<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Harutyunyan|first1=Arsen|title=Հայրապետական աթոռի` Վաղարշապատից Դվին տեղափոխման հարցի շուրջ [About Transfer of the Patriarchal Throne to Dvin from Vagharshapat]|journal=Patma-Banasirakan Handes|date=2013|issue=3|page=171|url=http://hpj.asj-oa.am/5900/|publisher=Armenian Academy of Sciences|location=Yerevan|language=hy|issn=0135-0536}}</ref> or 484,<ref>{{cite book|last=Ferguson|first=Everett|title=Encyclopedia of Early Christianity|volume=1|year=1999|publisher=Routledge|location=New York|isbn=978-0-8153-3319-7|page=227|edition=2nd|authorlink=Everett Ferguson|author2=McHugh, Michael P. |author3=Norris, Frederick W. }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=The Orthodox Christian World|year=2012|publisher=Routledge|location=Oxon|isbn=978-1-136-31484-1|page=47|editor=Casiday, Augustine}}</ref> the cathedral never lost its significance and remained "one of the greatest shrines of the Armenian Church."{{sfn|Mnatsakanian|1987|p=154|ps=: "Со дня своего основания, независимо от того, был ли храм кафедральной церковью католнкосата Армении или же католикосы находились в других местах, этот памятник вплоть до XX века являлся одной из величайших святынь армянской церкви..."}} The last known renovations until the 15th century were made by Catholicos [[Komitas (Catholicos)|Komitas]] in 618 (according to [[Sebeos]]) and Catholicos Nerses III (r. 640–661).<ref name="Hewsen"/><ref name="csufresno"/> During these centuries of neglect, the cathedral's "condition deteriorated so badly"{{sfn|Adalian|2010|p=299}} that it prompted the prominent archbishop [[Stepanos Orbelian]] to write one of his most notable poems, "Lament on Behalf of the Cathedral" («Ողբ ի դիմաց Կաթողիկէին» ''Voğb i dimats Katoğikein'') in 1300.{{efn-|name=|group=N|reference=The complete title is "Allegorical prosopopoeia on the Holy Cathedral at Vagharshapat"{{sfn|Hacikyan|Basmajian|Franchuk|Ouzounian|2005|p=536}} («Բան բարառնական ոդեալ դիմառնաբար ի դիմաց Վաղարշապատու ս. Կաթուղիկէին» ''Ban barařnakan vodeal dimařnabar i dimats Vagharshapatu s. Katoğikein''). It was first printed in [[Nor Nakhichevan]] in 1790, later in [[Kolkata]] in 1846 and in [[Tiflis]] in 1885.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Grigorian|first=G. M.|title=Ստեփանոս Օրբելյան [Stepanos Orbelian]|journal=[[Patma-Banasirakan Handes]]|year=1976|issue=4|publisher=[[Armenian Academy of Sciences]]|location=Yerevan|url=http://hpj.asj-oa.am/2668/|language=hy|page=162}}</ref>}} In the poem, which tells about the consequences of the Mongol and Mamluk invasions of Armenia and [[Cilician Armenia|Cilicia]], Orbelian portrays the Etchmiadzin Cathedral "as a woman in mourning, contemplating her former splendor and exhorting her children to return to their homeland [...] and restore its glory."{{sfn|Hacikyan|Basmajian|Franchuk|Ouzounian|2005|pp=535–536}}

Art historian [[Josef Strzygowski]], who was the first European to thoroughly study Armenian architecture,{{sfn|Buxton|1975|p=74}} and who placed Armenia in the center of European architecture,{{sfn|Buxton|1975|p=98}} suggested in his 1918 two-volume book titled ''Die Baukunst der Armenier und Europa'' (''The Architecture of the Armenians and of Europe'')<ref>{{cite book|last=Strzygowski|first=Josef|authorlink=Josef Strzygowski|title=Die Baukunst der Armenier und Europa [The Architecture of the Armenians and of Europe]|year=1918|publisher=Kunstverlag Anton Schroll & Co.|location=Vienna|language=de}}</ref> that several churches and chapels in Western Europe have been influenced by the cathedrals of Etchmiadzin and Bagaran "because of the similarity in plans."<ref name="csufresno"/> According to Strzygowski, some examples of churches influenced by Etchmiadzin and Bagaran are the 9th-century church of [[Germigny-des-Prés]] in France (built by [[Odo of Metz]], probably an Armenian) and [[Santa Maria presso San Satiro|San Satiro of Milan]], Italy.{{efn-|name=|group=N|reference="...at Germigny-des-Prés (on the Loire, near Orleans) is an exact reproduction of the Armenian apse-buttressed square with free central pillars, dating from the ninth century. The latter type occurs also at Milan (San Satiro). In both cases the plan closely resembles that of Bagaran in Armenia."{{sfn|Buxton|1975|p=100}}}} This view was later supported by [[Alexander Sahinian]] and [[Varazdat Harutyunyan]].<ref name="csufresno"/> Sahinian suggested that the Armenian church architecture was spread in Western Europe in the 8th–9th centuries by [[Paulicianism|Paulicians]], who migrated from Armenia en mase after being suppressed by the Byzantine government during the [[Byzantine Iconoclasm|Iconoclasm]] period. Sahinian added many other medieval churches in Europe, such as the [[Palatine Chapel, Aachen|Palatine Chapel of Aachen]] in Germany, to the list of churches to have been influenced by the cathedrals of Etchmiadzin and Bagaran and by Byzantine [[decorative arts]].{{sfn|Sahinian|Zarian|Ghazarian|1978|p=72}} According [[Murad Hasratyan]], Etchmiadzin’s design was spread to Europe via the Byzantine Empire and served as a model—besides Germigny-des-Prés and San Satiro—for the [[Nea Ekklesia]] church in [[Constantinople]] and the churches of [[Mount Athos]] in Greece.{{sfn|Hasratyan|2003|p=270}}