Zvartnots

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**Cathedral and Churches of Echmiatsin and the Archaeological Site of Zvartnots**¹
**UNESCO World Heritage Site**

State Party	Armenia
Type	Cultural
Criteria	ii, iii
Identification	#1011
Region²	Europe and North America
Inscription History
Formal Inscription:	2000 24th WH Committee Session
WH link:	http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1011
1 Name as officially inscribed on the WH List 2 As classified officially by UNESCO

Zvartnots (Armenian: Զվարթնոց meaning celestial angels) is a town located in Armenian province of Armavir, about 10 km west from Yerevan, approximately half way to Echmiadzin.

Yerevan's International Airport is located near the town Zvartnots.

1 The Zvartnots Cathedral
2 References
3 Gallery
4 External links

Plan of the Cathedral, as sketched by Toros Toramanian

Between 643 and 652 the Katholikos Nerses III (nicknamed the builder) built a majestic St. George cathedral at the place where a meeting between king Trdat III and Gregory the Illuminator was supposed to have taken place. In 930 the church was ruined by an earthquake, and remained buried until its rediscovery in the early 20th century. The site was excavated between 1900 and 1907, uncovering the foundations of the cathedral as well as the remains of the katholikos's palace and a winery.

The interior of the fresco-decorated church had the shape of a Greek cross with three aisles, while the exterior was a 32-sided polygon which appeared circular from a distance. Modern scholars accept the conclusion of Toros Toramanian, who worked on the original excavations, that the building had three floors.

Some sources claim that the Zvartnots cathedral is depicted upon Mount Ararat in one of frescoes of Sainte-Chapelle in Paris. This is not very likely, however, as the fresco was painted more than 300 years after destruction of the church.

Together with churches in Echmiadzin, Zvartnots was inscribed into UNESCO World Heritage list in 2000.

A drawing of the cathedral was depicted on the first issue of 100 AMD banknotes and its model can be seen in the history museum in Yerevan.

Gombos, Károly (1974). Armenia: Landscape and Architecture. International Publications Service. ISBN 963-13-4605-6.
Maranci, Christina (2001). Medieval Armenian Architecture: Constructions of Race and Nation. Louvain: Peeters Publishers. ISBN 90-429-0939-0.

Ruins of Zvartnots Temple. Column head.	Ruins of Zvartnots Temple. Column.	Ruins of Zvartnots Temple.	Ruins of Zvartnots Temple. Fragment of arc.
Ruins of Zvartnots Temple. Sun-dial.	Ruins of Zvartnots Temple.