St. Hripsimé

The church of St. Hripsimé was built by Catholicos Komitas I Aghtsetsi in 618, but the roots of this church go back to St. Gregory the Illuminator and King Trdat, who built a shrine at this site to the martyred virgin Hripsimé in the 4th century. The original 7th century chapel and magnificent structure still stand, although the dome was rebuilt and a gavit was added in the 17th century.

St. Hripsimé was a nun from the Church of Rome in the early 4th century. Due to the persecutions of the Emperor Diocletian, she and the other sisters of her order fled the empire with their mother superior Gayané, finding their way to Armenia. The emperor had fallen in love with Hripsimé and vowed to make her his wife. When he learned she was in Armenia, he sent word to the Armenian king Trdat that a beautiful woman was hiding in his lands and that, if he should find her, he should either take her as a wife or send her back to Rome.

When Trdat found Hripsimé in Gayané’s convent, he himself fell in love with the young maiden. The king asked Gayané to intercede for him and convince Hripsimé to become his wife. Instead, Gayané told her to reject the heathen king’s advances, to stand firm in her vow of chastity and stay true to her faith. For this, Trdat cruelly tortured Gayané, Hripsimé and the other sisters to death.

The martyrdom of these women took place in the last year of St. Gregory the Illuminator’s captivity in the deep pit of Khor Virap. After St. Gregory was released, he had an inspired vision of three chapels honoring these two women of faith and the vision called Shoghakat in Armenian. He retrieved their relics, buried them, and built churches near the Cathedral of Etchmiadzin in their eternal memory.