ARMENIA IS THE OLDEST CHRISTIAN NATION in the world, having adopted Christianity in 301 AD. But its Biblical heritage goes back much farther. One story has Noah floating somewhere near current day Yerevan when he spotted Mt. Ararat poking above the flood waters. For what it’s worth, Mt. Ararat is 35 miles away in present day Turkey but it is ten times as far by road due to ongoing politics, namely the Armenian Genocide, the country’s other “claim to fame.”
Following the Christian history is much simpler — and safer — even for non-believers, so we hired a driver and set off for the churches of St. Hripsime and St. Gayane, named for a couple of stubborn nuns who lived in Rome around 300 AD. Neither was terribly exciting and I still can’t differentiate between Greek, Russian and Eastern Orthodox, not that it overly matters.
St. Hripsime St. Gayane
Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin was a different story. It is — and I quote — “the administrative headquarters of the Armenian Apostolic Church and the Pontifical Residence of the Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of all Armenians,” fifteen hectares of Armenian religion. Much is being renovated, including the Etchmiadzin Cathedral, but the weekend faithful were hardly deterred.
Etchmiadzin Cathedral
I had a chance to speak with a Canadian family of Armenian descent who tried to explain their continued infatuation with the genocide, something that happened a century ago. It sounds a bit like what we encountered on Cyprus. I guess there’s just something about the Turks that pisses off their neighbors.
