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Written by Gevork Nazaryan

King Vałarš I, of the Royal House of Aršak, once again rebuilt and remodeled the city of Vardkesavan, the city walls were completely rebuilt and restructured. In his honor king Vałarš I renamed the city Vałaršapat. The vast city of Vałaršapat was considered the second capital, after the city of Artašat, by the Aršakuni kings. The city of Vałaršapat had the Royal Palace of the Aršakuni kings, the city also had a large military contingent of the king's army which was housed in the barracks of the city. Christianity in Armenia, as in other parts of the ancient world, was practiced in secrecy until the year 301 A. D. when St. Gregory the Illuminator or Enlightener, from a noble extraction, converted to Christianity and took upon himself the hard task of converting king Trdat [Tiridates] III the Great and the royal court. St. Gregory knew that it was necessary to convert the king and upper classes in order to successfully install

ONE OF THE STATUES OF ST. GREGORY THE ILLUMINATOR [NAPLES].

Christianity as the religion of the state. Initially, King Trdat III, like his predecessors, opposed the new religion. He ordered the arrest of St. Gregory and imprisoned him in the dungeon of Khor Virap [lit. the deep pit] near sacred Mount Ararat. However, soon after King

CHURCH FATHERS OF THE HOLY APOSTOLIC CHURCH

ENGRAVING OF ST. YAKOB OF NISIBIS [MTSBIN]. CANONIZED BY THE HOLY
APOSTOLIC CHURCH FOR HIS DEVOTION TO FAITH AND SERVICE TO THE PEOPLE.
THE DEDICATED ARCHBISHOP PARTICIPATED IN THE UNIVERSAL COUNCIL OF
NICEA IN 325 AD. SAINT YAKOB IS KNOWN AS ONE OF THE FIRST CHURCH FATHERS
WHO EVER ATTEMPTED TO CLIMB THE HOLY TWIN MOUNTAIN ARARAT IN SEARCH
OF THE ARK. IN 338, THE HEROIC ARCHBISHOP LED THE DEFENSE OF NISIBIS
AGAINST THE INVADING FORCES OF SHAPUH II. THE DEFENDERS LED
BY THE ARCHBISHOP HELD OUT FOR 70 DAYS COMPLETELY ENCIRCLED
AND WITHOUT REINFORCEMENTS UNTIL THE CITY FELL AND THE
ARCHBISHOP ALONG WITH MANY OF THE INHABITANTS WAS MARTYRED.
HIS ETERNAL MEMORY HAS BEEN PRESERVED AND IS COMMEMORATED
AS AN IMPORTANT DAY OF SOLEMN REMEMBRANCE.

BAPTISM BY SACRED WATER [FEM. HOLY SPIRIT]. ANOINTMENT OF KING
TIRIDATES III AND THE ROYAL FAMILY BY ST. GREGORY THE ILLUMINATOR.

ORIGINAL BAS-RELIEF FROM THE IVTH CENTURY, NORTHERN FAÇADE OF
THE MOTHER CHURCH. PLACED BY THE ARMENIAN MASTER BUILDERS
OF THE MITHRAIC TEMPLES EQUILATERAL SPLIT [MALTESE]
CROSS WITHIN TWO CIRCLES [THE INSCRIPTION IS WRAPPING THE CROSS
IN-BETWEEN THE 2 CIRCLES] THE NORTHERN [RIGHT TIP]
POINT OF THE CROSS IS IN THE FORM OF A HOOK [SNAKE CROSS -- STAFF OF
DIVINE WISDOM] FLANKED BY TWO LOVEBIRDS [DUALITY/DIVINE COUPLE]
FACING EACH OTHER AND THE CLASSICAL FORMAT OF INSCRIPTION
TWO CONVERGING TRIANGLES POINTING TO THE INSCRIBED RECTANGLE.
THERE ARE ALSO INSCRIPTION IN THE MERIDIAN HORIZONTAL
LINE [THUS MAKING IT A WINGED CROSS ITS TRUE MEANING AND POINT
ZODIACAL PRECESSION AND YEAR'S FOUR SEASONS
THE CROSS/ELEMENTS IN MOTION]. THERE ARE INSCRIPTIONS IN THE
FOUR DIVISIONS OF THE CROSS AND ON THE WINGED LINES.
ALL WITHIN THE SPIRAL OF HARMONY [GOLDEN MEAN].

EXTERNAL HIGH RELIEFS OF THE CHARTRES CATHEDRAL
SHOWING THE ENCIRCLED EQUILATERAL CROSS WITH
THE BLOSSOMED GLOWING ROSE IN THE CENTER/HEART.

GANDHARA BUDDHA WITH THE GLOWING HALO/AURA EMANATING FROM
THE CROWN HEAD SHOWING SPIRITUAL ENLIGHTENMENT/CHRIST CONSCIOUSNESS

THE FIVE-DOMED MOTHER CHURCH [ON THE EXACT VORTEX OF THE
SACRED DRAGON LINES OF THE ONCE FIRE TEMPLE] BECAME
A RENOWNED SITE OF PILGRIMAGE FOR NOT ONLY
CHRISTIANS BUT BUDDHISTS AS WELL...
A TIBETAN INSCRIPTION DATING FROM THE MIDDLE AGES
WAS FOUND ETCHED RIGHT INTO THE HUGE BELL OF ONE OF THE TOWERS OF
THE MOTHER CHURCH...THUS SHOWING THAT BUDDHIST
MONKS AND PILGRIMS HAD A SPIRITUAL CONNECTION WITH THE
MOTHER CHURCH AND THE FATHERS OF THE HOLY APOSTOLIC CHURCH.

THE WINGED ENCIRCLED CROSS [NOTE THE POLE/STEM/
AXIS MUNDE] ON THE GAVIT‛ OF THE IVTH CENTURY CHURCH OF ASTUATSATSIN -
THE GREAT MOTHER [CREATRIX GODDESS WHO GIVES BIRTH TO THE SAVIOR]

ANCIENT ARMENIAN BOWL IMBUED WITH SACRED TRADITIONAL
ARMENIC SYMBOLS INCLUDING THE TOROID BOLORAK...FRACTAL CONING
BREATHING...INHALE-EXHALE -- EXTRACTING AND CONTRACTING COSMOS
WITH THE KNOT OF ETERNITY [JUST LIKE IN BUDDHISM] IN THE
VERY HEART/CENTER....WITHIN TWO VERTICAL PARALLEL
LINES [LIKE THE TANTRIC EGG] WITH HEAVEN + EARTH FUSION KNOT
[PREVALENT MOTIF IN ARMENIAN ART AND ARCHITECTURE]

Trdat realized that Christianity can be a uniting force and a great shield against Zoroastrian Persia, that earlier in the IIIrd century had overthrown the Iranian branch of the Arsacids and was now governed by the Sassanian House. The new dynasty was antagonistic towards the Arsacids that naturally did not recognize the new rulers of Iran. St. Gregory the Illuminator himself became the first Supreme Patriarch or Catholicos of the Holy Apostolic Church. In 303, St. Gregory initiated the construction of the Mother Cathedral of the Holy City of Echmiadzin.
 

RECONSTRUCTION SECTION OF THE TRANSVERSAL COUPE OF
THE MOTHER CATHEDRAL IN THE FIRST HALF OF THE FOURTH CENTURY
 

The holy ground was selected after, according to the tradition, St. Gregory had a vision when Christ Jesus, the Only Begotten Son [Miadzin] descended from the heavens to the sacred spot. Throughout the succeeding centuries, the Holy Apostolic Church took upon itself the task of converting the neighboring peoples to the Christian faith. Peoples of Caucasian Albania and Iberia [Georgia] were converted to Christianity and other tribes of Caucasus and beyond were also converted. 

THE FLOOR PLAN OF THE MOTHER CATHEDRAL
 IN THE FIRST HALF OF THE FOURTH CENTURY