Khor Virap Monastery
A monastery beside the Turkish border with the classic view of snow-capped Mount Ararat, where Saint Gregory the Illuminator was held in a pit.
About
Khor Virap stands on a low hill in the flat Ararat plain, with a small stone church inside a walled courtyard. Behind it, Mount Ararat fills the horizon, and on clear mornings the twin peaks look close enough to touch.
The name means deep dungeon. A narrow shaft beside the chapel leads down a ladder into the underground cell where Gregory was held, and visitors can climb down. Come early for the clearest view of the mountain.
History
According to Armenian tradition, Gregory was thrown into a pit here by King Tiridates III for refusing to worship pagan gods, and he survived for some thirteen years, reportedly kept alive by a woman who brought him food. After he healed the king of an illness, Tiridates accepted Christianity, and Armenia became the first state to adopt it as the official religion, traditionally dated to 301. A chapel was built over the pit in the seventh century, and the present church of the Holy Mother of God dates from 1662. The monastery once housed a seminary and a scriptorium, and it was a place of pilgrimage for centuries. Ararat itself lies across the border in Turkey, which is closed here, and Armenians regard the mountain as their national symbol. Today Khor Virap is one of the best-known sights of the country and a popular stop for pilgrims.