Saint Hripsime Church

Saint Hripsime Church (Armenian: Սուրբ Հռիփսիմե եկեղեցի, romanized: Surb Hṙip‘simē yekeghetsi)^[b] is a seventh century Armenian Apostolic church in the city of Vagharshapat (Etchmiadzin), Armenia. It was built in 618 by Catholicos Komitas over the tomb of Hripsime, a Roman virgin murdered by Tiridates III and a key figure in the Christianization of Armenia.

Standing largely intact since its construction, the church has been widely admired for its architecture and proportions. Considered a masterpiece of classical Armenian architecture, it has influenced many other Armenian churches. It features innovations, namely trapezoidal niches and conical squinches, containing their first dated examples, and the only example in Armenia of turrets at the base of the drum serving as anchors and buttresses. The two inscriptions left by Komitas constitute the second earliest extant Armenian inscriptions. It was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site along with other nearby churches, including Etchmiadzin Cathedral, Armenia's mother church, in 2000.

The church is located on a small natural^[11] elevation on the eastern outskirts of the town of Vagharshapat (Etchmiadzin), adjacent to the main road connecting it to the capital Yerevan.^[12][13][3] Standing on an open plain,^[14][15] it was built outside the historic walls of ancient Vagharshapat,^[16] but now stands within an urban environment due to the expansion of the town.^[17] Several major historic churches are situated in its vicinity, namely the 17th century Shoghakat Church, the ruined 7th century Zvartnots Cathedral, mother cathedral of Etchmiadzin, and its contemporary Saint Gayane Church.^[18]

Excavations conducted inside the church in 1958–59 uncovered black tuff fragments of an ornamented cornice beneath the supporting columns. These fragments were immediately recognized as belonging to a pre-Christian Hellenistic structure—possibly a temple—with stylistic similarities to the cornice of the Garni Temple.^[19][20][13] Alexander Sahinian, who oversaw the excavations following the initial discovery, argued that a pagan temple ^[c] must have existed at or near the location.^[13][20] Alexandra Eremian believed that the fragments indicate the presence of a pagan temple on the site,^[16] while Babken Arakelyan and Varazdat Harutyunyan proposed that they came from a pagan building in Vagharshapat and were later reused in the church's foundations.^[22][23] Hovhannes Khalpakhchian described it more generally as "a building of the Hellenistic period,"^[24] The excavated sections were covered with protective glass for public display.^[19][23]

According to the traditional account recorded by Agathangelos, Hripsime, a Roman virgin, and her companions (including Gayane), fled to Armenia to escape persecution by the Roman emperor Diocletian. In Armenia, Hripsime was tortured and killed by king Tiridates III after she rejected his advances. Following Tiridates's conversion to Christianity in the early fourth century (dated 301 or 314 AD), he and Gregory the Illuminator built a martyrium at the site of her martyrdom as an act of remorse.^[25] Agathangelos recounts that Tiridates brought enormous stones from Mount Ararat to construct the martyriums of Hripsime and companions.^[26][27] It is considered one of the earliest Christian martyriums.^[12] It is believed to have been partially buried underground, with an aboveground canopy.^[16][d] It was destroyed by Sasanian king Shapur II and his Armenian Zoroastrian ally Meruzhan Artsruni c. 363,^[33] along with Etchmiadzin Cathedral and other Christian sites.^[34]

In 395, Catholicos Sahak Partev built a new chapel-martyrium, which the later historian Sebeos described as "too low and dark".^[35][34][36] Archaeological excavations in 1976–78, led by Raffi Torosyan and Babken Arakelyan,^[37] uncovered the foundations of a small single-nave basilica around 10 m (33 ft) east of the current church, which is likely the remains of this late fourth century structure.^[38][39][e] Notably, Christian-style burials were also unearthed, which both scholars and the Armenian Church identified as Hripsime and her companions.^[37][40][45] A letter from The Book of Letters, dated 608, mentions a priest named Samuel of St. Hripsime, indicating that the chapel was an active church at the time.^[46]

The seventh century historian Sebeos recounts that Catholicos Komitas (r. 615–628) demolished the small martyrium and constructed the present church in the 28th year of the reign of the Sassanian king Khosrow II (r. 590–628), which has been calculated as the year 618.^[34][35] This dating is widely accepted.^[50][f] Two inscriptions attest to his role in its construction.^[55] A number of scholars maintain that Komitas, also a hymnographer, may have been the architect of the church.^[60] Murad Hasratyan suggests that his identification as "builder" in one of the inscriptions indicates that Komitas himself was the architect.^[61][62]

The church contains two engraved inscriptions in the erkat‘agir uncial script^[65] recording Catholicos Komitas's role in its construction.^[66][g] These inscriptions, undated but conventionally attributed to 618^{[63][51][68][h]} and 628 respectively,^[56][69] are the second oldest surviving Armenian inscriptions after the Tekor Church inscription (c. 478–490).^[i]

The first inscription (202 × 60 cm) is located on the western wall's exterior,^[75] but largely concealed by later additions.^[76][k] It reads: "I Komitas sacristan of saint Hṙi{w}p‘simē was summoned to the throne of saint Grēgor. I built the temple of these holy martyrs of Christ."^[l][78]

The second inscription (150 × 35 cm)^[74][79] appears on the eastern apse's interior behind the altar.^[81][m] It was revealed under plaster during restoration works in 1898, when it was lightly damaged.^[56][74] Implores Christ to recognize Komitas's labors,^[55] it reads: "Christ God, remember Komitas kat‘ołikos of Armenia, the builder of saint Hṙip‘simē".^[n][82]

Not much in known about the church's history in the medieval period, but inscriptions indicate that it was intermittently active, including one from 1296 recording the release of the monastery from tithe and other taxes on cotton by local rulers, and another from 1302 on the lintel of the western entrance recording the donation of 1,000 silver coins.^[83]

Arakel of Tabriz, a contemporary, recounted the state of the church in the early 17th century and provided details of its restoration (along with St. Gayane) by Catholicos Pilipos (r. 1633–1655).^[87][65] Following the deportation of Armenians to Iran by Shah Abbas in 1604–05, it was "without inhabitants and fences".^[88] Abandoned and defenseless, the church was also heavily dilapidated by that time.^[16][48][89] During periods of neglect, neatly cut facing stones were quarried from the church.^[90] Arakel recounts that it had no doors, no altar, the roof and walls had crumbled, and the foundations were shaken and dug up, while the interior was full of manure as livestock were driven into the church.^[88] According to Arakel, in the early 1600s, two Catholic missionaries attempted to steal Hripsime's relics.^[62][43]

The restoration of Hripsime under Catholicos Pilipos "took three years, from start to finish, for the work began in the [Armenian] year 1100 (1651) and was finished in the year 1102 (1653) with great expenditures and tremendous labor."^[91][36][p] This restoration encompassed the pediments, the roof of the dome, and saw the construction of a porch/portico or an open narthex (gavit) in front of the western entrance (upon which a bell tower was added in 1790).^{[80][93][16][q]}

Since its restoration in 1653, the church had a regular congregation.^[98] Subsequent Catholicoi, Eghiazar (r. 1681–1691) and Nahapet (r. 1691–1705), further contributed to its revitalization by adding buildings and sponsoring manuscript production.^[99] Six inscriptions, from the 1720s, engraved on its walls record the donations of salt, oil, incense, rice, candles, wine.^[100][r] In the 17th and 18th centuries, monks at St. Hripsime were provided bread and clothing from the monastery of Echmiadzin, but the monastery also possessed its own farmland and livestock.^[103]

Catholicos Simeon I of Yerevan (r. 1763–1780) raised a new cross on its dome in 1765,^[41] and fortified the monastery in 1776 with a cob perimeter-wall, along with corner towers and an arched entrance built out of stone on the northern side.^{[80][104][105]}

In 1790 Catholicos Ghukas Karnetsi (r. 1780–1799) added a rotunda-shaped bell tower on the porch/narthex built by Pilipos in 1653.^[80][93][s]

In 1894–95, under Catholicos Mkrtich Khrimian (r. 1893–1907), a two-story residence for the monks was built inside the monastery walls, and the eastern and southern sections of the cob walls were replaced with stone walls.^[80][108] The church itself underwent considerable renovation in 1898.^{[74][109][16]}

A decree issued on 5 February 1921 by Ashot Hovhannisian, Soviet Armenia's People's Commissar for Education, nationalized the church^[110] and placed it under the Cultural-Historical Institute, but it was returned to the Mother See in January 1922.^[111] In 1926, vardapet Khachik Dadyan, abbot of the monastery, undertook independent investigation in its grounds without government authorization leading to his expulsion and imprisonment.^[112][113] Dadyan had excavated around its foundations, causing significant damage by exposing them to rainwater and snow.^[112] Part of the facing stones collapsed in 1932.^[112] The church remained endangered for a decade until restoration works began in 1936.^[112][114] Its foundations were reinforced and its roof, dome, the monastery walls and buildings were restored and the surrounding area underwent beautification.^[80][28] The restoration was initiated by the architect Alexander Tamanian,^[115] and was supervised by the archeologist Karo Ghafadaryan.^[112]

The church was (re)nationalized by the early 1930s and it, along with adjacent buildings, were transformed into a repository of antiquities called the Vagharshapat Archaeological Museum.^[116] After its restoration, the church itself was turned into a museum in 1936 housing diverse archaeological exhibits from the nearby Zvartnots Cathedral, an Urartian inscription^[t] and jars from Karmir Blur, two Ionic capitals from Garni Temple, murals from the demolished Sts. Peter and Paul Church in Yerevan, stone inscriptions and fragments, clay vessels, and photographs.^[112][116] The museum, also described as a lapidarium,^[118] operated for nearly a decade. The church and monastery were returned to the Mother See in the spring of 1945 after locum tenens Catholicos Gevorg Chorekchyan's April 1945 appeal to Joseph Stalin.^[118][119] Its collection of more than 110 items were transferred mostly to the History Museum of Armenia.^[112] Its living quarters were used by the accommodation department of the town council and the militsiya as late as 1951.^[120]

Extensive restoration and archaeological excavations were undertaken at the church in the early years of Catholicos Vazgen I's tenure (r. 1955–1994), alongside similar efforts at Etchmiadzin Cathedral.^[121] Vazgen I, who called it "the most magnificent of our ancient shrines,"^[4] directed much efforts for its revitalization.^[122] Restoration began in 1955^[123] and officially concluded in September 1962, when the church was reconsecrated.^[124][4] Unlike other historic churches restored under state auspices, this project was overseen by the Church^[125][u] and funded by Italian-Armenian benefactors Onnik Manoukian and Yervant Hussisian, who contributed $15,000 (equivalent to $168,000 in 2024) for the church and an additional $6,000 (equivalent to $63,000 in 2024) for the surrounding walls.^[127][4]

The church grounds were enhanced with tuff block paving and a basalt drinking fountain designed by architect Rafayel Israyelian.^[130] Israyelian also designed a new altar table (1960) and chandelier (1967). The altar featured an altarpiece of the Virgin Mary by Hovhannes Minasyan,^[23][131] which Ruben Angaladian hailed as "one of the finest works in the history of Armenian painting."^[132]

In 1958, restoration shifted to the interior, beginning with the removal of white plaster and limewater deposits through sandblasting.^[80] This revealed the original dark grey-brown tuff walls and a system of eight large and sixteen small squinches beneath the circular drum.^[80][28] Excavations in 1959 exposed the original floor, located about 40 cm (16 in) below the contemporary level,^[19][40][v] which was then lowered to match the original elevation.^[28]

By the 1970s, St. Hripsime was one of six active abbacies in Soviet Armenia.^[133] Further restoration took place in 1985,^[134] including the bell tower's renovation in 1986–87 by Artsrun Galikyan and Avetik Teknetchyan.^[134] Galikyan also designed new wooden doors for the church.^[134]

Following independence, the Armenian government returned 3 hectares (7.4 acres) of land surrounding the monastery to the Mother See in the mid-1990s.^[42] Under Catholicos Karekin I (r. 1995–99), philanthropist Louise Manoogian Simone sponsored the renovation of the roof and complete repaving of the surrounding grounds.^[42] A new baptismal font was consecrated in 2012,^[135] and its 1400th anniversary was celebrated in 2018.^[136]

The tomb of St. Hripsime is located in an underground barrel vaulted chamber under the eastern apse.^[137][138] It is accessed through the chamber on the northeastern corner.^[139] Scholars like Eremian and Mnatsakanian have dated the crypt to the early fifth century.^[140] Mathews suggested that it "appears integral to the seventh century church".^[90] Maranci linked its architecture to the building practice found in both Constantinople and particularly in Palestine.^[138] The current gravestone, dating to 1986, depicts her holding a cross.^[139]

Catholicos Komitas was presumably buried inside the church.^[62] A stone slab before the altar is thought to be his tombstone.^[141] Catholicos Pilipos, who restored the church in 1653, was buried in the northern apse inside the church after refusal by the Iranian ruler of Erivan to permit his burial at Etchmiadzin.^[142] His marble tombstone was erected by Catholicos Yeprem I in the early 1800s.^[141] Another Catholicos, Khoren I Muradbekian, who was murdered by the NKVD in April 1938, had a "hasty burial in the ordinary graveyard" of St. Hripsime, but his body was exhumed in 1943 and laid to rest in the grave of the catholicoses at Saint Gayane.^[143][144]

During restoration works in 1958–59, two graves were found outside the western entrance, where, according to historical accounts, two Catholicoi had been buried: Astvatsatur (r. 1715–1725) and Karapet II (r. 1726–1729). Their tombstones had disappeared in the early 1800s, and new marble ones were erected during the 1950s restoration.^[141] To the east of the church, a cemetery has survived with around 50 tombstones, including 30 with inscriptions, dating from the 17th to the 19th centuries. The perimeter wall, built in the 1890s, divides it into two. One notable burial is vardapet Stepanos Lehatsi (d. 1689), a member of the Etchmiadzin brotherhood.^[145]

St. Hripsime is "one of the most refined examples of Armenian architecture".^[147] It belongs to the "inscribed tetraconch" type distinctive to Armenia and Georgia.^[52][w] It was built during first great period of Armenian architecture of the 7th century,^[149] when it was "leading the entire Christian East."^[148]

The church has remained largely unaltered throughout history^[31][36] and is considered "excellently preserved,"^[150] especially its exterior.^[151] Main modifications include changes to the original roof angles and tiled spherical roof on the dome, and removal of grand portals.^[152] Its overall proportions have remained largely unchanged.^[152] The most significant later additions were the portico (1653) and the bell tower (1790).^[76]

It has not sustained any major damage from earthquakes. Its pyramidal shape and low center of gravity contribute to its stability,^[153] along with earthquake-resistant features like wall-reinforcing niches, a lightweight hollow dome crown, fan-shaped squinches to support a dome, buttresses, reinforcing ribs, and integral anti-seismic corner towers (turrets).^[154][28] A 2023 study identified a vertical crack between a niche and corner room, likely from moderate earthquakes, but not threatening structural integrity.^[155]

Constructed with finely cut dark gray tuff stone, it features precise ashlar masonry with mortarless joints and rests on a solid three-stepped stylobate.^[161] It has two entrances, located on the western and southern sides.^[162] It is externally rectangular with a cruciform tetraconch plan.^[162] Its core is an octagonal bay, from which four cross arms terminate by apses, while in the diagonals three-quarter cylindrical passageways in diagonal directions leading to four identical chambers (sacristies),^[163] each measuring 4 m × 4 m (13 ft × 13 ft).^[90][164]

The church measures 22.8 by 17.7 m (75 by 58 ft)^[1][2] and rises around 23 m (75 ft) (inside height under the dome).^[3][x] Although small in size,^[y] it posses "a massive monumentality",^[148] standing out distinctly against the plain.^[167] Maranci describes its the interior "undulating",^[52] while Sirarpie Der Nersessian found the interior spacious, well lit, "very sober and very graceful".^[168] Its southern wall is 53 cm (21 in) longer than the northern (22.87 and 22.34 m).^[90] The dimensions and positions of windows, doors, apses, and niches vary throughout the church, which can be explained by successive building phases.^[90] Its small windows accentuate its mass and solidity.^[147]

It is unique for the deep and tall trapezoidal^[z] niches on all four facades niches on its four façades.^[170] According to Armen Khatchatrian, these niches (recesses) represented an architectural innovation,^[171] and as Patrick Donabédian highlighted, constitute "the first dated example of dihedral niches",^[172][aa] that would later find a wide application and become characteristic for Armenian architecture.^[172][173] They serve both practical and aesthetic purposes: conserving building materials while relieving wall weight, and creating visual contrast with the polished wall surfaces that enhances the overall harmony of the structure.^[171] Tiran Marutyan suggested that they create a "powerful visual impact,"^[164] while Ara Zarian proposed that they add chiaroscuro effects on top of increasing greater resistance to seismic events.^[174]

The church features minimal ornamentation. On the exterior, decoration is primarily limited to sculpted moldings^[52] (i.e. carved arched friezes) over the windows,^[176][3] stylized with floral and geometric motifs.^[73] Inside, simple thirty-two medallions (i.e. rosettes) composed of concentric circles run along the drum of the dome.^[48][11] More notably, the cupola contains twelve elongated relief rays radiating from the center and narrowing towards the top center. Loosely grouped into four groups, they form a cross-like pattern.^[177] Despite a lack of direct resemblance this design has been linked to the mosaic cross originally depicted on the dome of the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople, as well as to sun motifs in Sasanian architecture, such as those on the dome of the Neyasar fire temple. The architect may have drawn inspiration from decorative elements in Iranian domes, reinterpreting them to align with Christian theology.^[58] Beneath the dome, fan-shaped decorations accentuate the three-quarter niches.^[23]

Murad Hasratyan and A. T. Stepanyan cited its dome as the pinnacle of perfection in Armenian architecture.^[178] According to Thomas F. Mathews, in the development of Armenian architecture, the church's most significant feature is its cupola, which places a windowed drum on a circular cornice.^[90]

The dome rests on a slightly rectangular bay of 10.10 m × 9.52 m (33.1 ft × 31.2 ft),^[164][16] topped by a conical roof^[179] on a low, sixteen-faceted drum drum with twelve windows.^[3][48] The conical apex contains an interior hollow that keeps the center of gravity low to resist earthquake damage.^[154] The four corner sections contain small tower-like structures (turrets) placed at the cubical base.^[180][90] Thomas F. Mathews describes them as "an unicum in Armenian architecture."^[90] They are hollow and provide access from the cornice walk-way to crawl space above the squinch vaults.^[90] They function as stabilizing counterweights for the drum,^[90][181] and according to Garbis Armen, restrain lateral thrust, serving as both anchors and buttresses.^[154]

Based on irregularities in measurement,^[90] scholars initially attributed the cupola to the 10th–11th centuries.^{[182][16][28]} However, restoration in the 1950s revealed mason's marks identical to those in the body of the church, indicating seventh-century origin.^{[183][90][31]} Supporting this dating are decorative rays emanating from the cupola's center and a band of concentric circles at its base, features found in other contemporary churches.^[90] The stone processing, color, dimensions, row heights, also corresponded to the other parts of the church, leaving no suspicions about later modifications.^[131] Harutyunyan theorized that only external dome restoration occurred in the 1650s,^[23][184] while Mnatsakanian suggested the original dome had a spherical, tiled roof.^[152]

The dome rests on four large squinches—arch-shaped supports in the corners of the square bay—over diagonal exedrae, with eight smaller squinches above creating the transition from octagon to circular drum base.^[52][148] These conical squinches have no known precedent in earlier precisely-dated structures.^[58] While some connect them to Sasanian architecture like Neyasar's chahartaq fire-temple,^[58] Armenians transformed Iranian mud brick designs into enduring masonry.^[185] Maranci countered that Iranian examples (Sarvistan and Firuzabad) show only superficial resemblance, proposing Cappadocian churches like Kizil Kilise offer more compelling structural and decorative parallels.^[186]

Its specific tetraconch ground plan, often called Hripsime-type, is shared by a group of churches in Armenia and Georgia.^[187] The most important examples are St. Hripsime and Jvari in Mtskheta,^[188] with church of Avan (590s) being the earliest dated example and model for Hripsime.^[192] While the question of precedence of Hripsime and Jvari has been frequently debated by Georgian and Armenian scholars, they are part of a complex process of mutual influence and interchange^[193] and a shared cultural heritage.^[194][195]

Other churches with similar plan and design in Armenia include Avan, Garnahovit, Artsvaber,^[196] Soradir (Zoradir), Targmanchats, Sisian, Aramus.^[197] In Georgia, besides Jvari, it is reproduced in Ateni,^[148][52] Dzveli Shuamta, and Martvili.^[195] Its design has been directly replicated in or inspired several churches. In the 10th and 11th centuries, its design was revived in the Cathedral of Aghtamar^[198][199] and the main churches at Varagavank and Gndevank.^[200]

Dickran Kouymjian called it the most uniquely Armenian or Caucasian church plan.^[179] Antony Eastmond describes their forms as "sophisticated plays on geometry and spatial volumes that sought to reconcile the circularity of a central dome within a rectilinear ground plan."^[201] Anatoly Yakobson praised the type as the "fully mature and perfected" form of centrally domed style and "a major achievement of medieval architecture".^[195]

The origins of its design has been widely debated. Richard Krautheimer viewed it as the product of a local architectural tradition shaped by Armenia's complex political, religious, and cultural context and found comparisons to Roman mausolea plans "vague and unsatisfactory."^[202] W. Eugene Kleinbauer considered it "an independent phenomenon" in the development of Early Christian architecture, both typologically and stylistically.^[203] Hovhannes Khalpakhchian traced its roots to the vernacular glkhatun—a type of domestic dwelling common in Armenia and neighboring regions.^[204] Trachtenberg linked its plan to antique and Byzantine polygonal designs, though he emphasized the distinct spatial effect: a "cramped, fragmented, inert" interior dominated by "the dense stone mass from which it seemed hollowed."^[205] Annegret Plontke-Lüning proposed an origin from Late Antique structures in Asia Minor, Syria, and Palestine and suggested a common root with Middle Byzantine cross-domed churches.^[206][207] Some Armenian scholars have pointed to the sixth-century Okht Drni Church in Mokhrenes, Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh)—with its quatrefoil plan—as a potential prototype for the Hripsime-type churches.^[208][209] Armen Kazaryan suggested that it is "an intriguing interpretation" of the architecture of the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople."^[190]

Vladimir P. Goss and Trachtenberg suggest that its design predates elements of Romanesque architecture, such as hidden interior complexity within a simple exterior, thick walls, layered arches, and austere decoration.^[210][205] Some authors have drawn comparisons with St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.^[211][212] Richard Krautheimer wrote that the two "resemble each other but vaguely, and only on paper."^[213]

Trachtenberg suggests that St. Hripsime exemplifies architectural features—specifically, complex internal spatial divisions within a simple outer structure—that later became characteristic of medieval Byzantine architecture,^[205] particularly in the development of domed churches and their vaulting systems.^[214] Its possible influence has been frequently discussed by scholars of Byzantium in relation to specific churches, including St. George of Mangana^[215] and Panagia Kamariotissa in Chalke (both in Constantinople),^[216] the Holy Apostles in the Athenian Agora,^[217] Daphni near Athens, and Nea Moni in Chios.^[218]

It has served as an inspiration, to varying degrees, for the design of several Armenian diaspora churches since the 20th century, including St. Hripsime Church in Yalta, Crimea (1917),^[219] St. Vartan Cathedral in Manhattan, New York (1968),^[220] and others.^[ab]

Certain elements of its design affected major public buildings in Yerevan erected during Soviet-period.^[ac]

St. Hripsime is universally recognized as a masterpiece of Armenian architecture,^[234] with some scholars considering it the definitive example of the tradition.^[ad] The tenth century Catholicos Hovhannes Draskhanakerttsi described the church as a wonderful and splendid structure,^[243] while the 20th century Catholicos Vazgen I called it "the most magnificent of our ancient shrines."^[4]

The church's proportions are among its most celebrated features.^[ae] Frédéric DuBois identified its "simplicity, massiveness, and grandeur" as key elements of the Armenian style.^[246] Fridtjof Nansen admired the rare "balance and harmony" of its forms.^[3] Andrei Bely noted "the elegance of its simultaneously heavy and light" proportions.^[247] Edouard Utudjian praised its "perfect finish" and "excellent taste",^[157] while Garbis Armen highlighted its "noble proportions", and "monolithic and constructivist 'grown-from-the-earth' appearance."^[154] Marvin Trachtenberg suggests that it appears "as if carved from one massive masonry block."^[205]

Scholars have also praised its structural ingenuity and conceptual clarity. Andrzej Piotrowski called it "technically imaginative",^[248] while W. Eugene Kleinbauer placed its "exciting composition" on par with the Basilica of San Vitale in Ravenna.^[249]

Soviet-era Armenian scholars offered similarly positive assessments. Hovhannes Khalpakhchian wrote that it is "designed with magnificent simplicity," characterized by "conciseness and harmonic unity of volumetric forms."^[173] Nona Stepanian and Harutyun Chakmakchian called it a "profoundly innovative" work, embodying monumental simplicity and uncompromised formal expression.^[11] Artsvin Grigoryan and Martin Tovmasyan suggested that it features "ingenious structural solutions that maximize the potential of stone".^[169]

It is one of Armenia's most visited monuments^[150] and a popular wedding venue,^[250] hosting 472 wedding ceremonies and 536 baptisms in 2013.^[251] It is often visited by Armenian presidents^[252][253] and foreign dignitaries.^[254][255]

Bishops Pargev Martirosyan (1987–89), Vrtanes Abrahamyan (1996–97, 1999–2001), and Movses Movsisyan (1997–99) have served as abbots at St. Hripsime.^{[256][257][258]}

The church and the surrounding area covers an area of 6.2 hectares (15 acres) and is property of the Armenian Apostolic Church (Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin).^[18] Recognized as a national monument by the Soviet Armenian government, this designation was reaffirmed by the government of Armenia in 2002.^[259] Joint councils consisting of the Ministry of Culture and the Armenian Apostolic Church are responsible for regulating its conservation, rehabilitation, and usage.^[18] In 2000 the UNESCO inscribed St. Hripsime, Etchmiadzin Cathedral, St. Gayane, Shoghakat and the ruined Zvartnots Cathedral as a World Heritage Site.^[18] The whole protected area covering St. Hripsime and Shogakat is 25.3 hectares (63 acres).^[18]

• The church has been depicted by Armenian and foreign artists,^[260] including in an engraving by Guillaume-Joseph Grelot (1686),^[84][o] on a map Eremia Chelebi (1691),^[261] a watercolor by Mikhail Matveevich Ivanov (1783),^[95][96] paintings by Grigory Gagarin (1847),^[262] Vardges Sureniants (1897), Panos Terlemezian (1903),^[263] Yeghishe Tadevosyan (1913),^[264] Vardges Sureniants (1918),^[265] Pavel Shillingovsky (1925),^[266] Martiros Saryan (1945),^[267] Ara Bekaryan (1960s, 1978),^[268][269] Levon Nalbandyan (1981),^[270] Gastello Gasparyan (1984).^[271]
• The modern floor mosaic created by the Israeli mosaicist Hava Yoffe inside the Chapel of Saint Helena at Jerusalem's Church of the Holy Sepulchre depicts the church along with other major Armenian sites.^[272] Small-scale models of the church are displayed at the American Museum of Natural History in New York (image) and at Armenia's National Architecture Museum (image).^[273][274] A relief of the church is sculpted on the headquarters of the Eastern Diocese of the Armenian Church of America next to the St. Vartan Cathedral in Manhattan, New York.
• It has appeared on postage stamps of Vatican City (1973),^[275] the Soviet Union (1988)^[276] and Armenia (2000, 2009, 2018).^[277] It was depicted on the 200 Armenian dram banknotes (in circulation from 1993 to 2004).^[278]

• Etchmiadzin Cathedral
• Saint Gayane Church
• Shoghakat Church
• Zvartnots Cathedral

• Eremian, Aleksandra [in Armenian] (1974). Հայաստանի V-VII դդ. գմբեթավոր կառույցների նախագծման սկզբունքների մասին [On the principles of designs of 5th–7th century domed structures in Armenia]. Lraber Hasarakakan Gitutyunneri (in Armenian). 10 (10): 56–82. (archived PDF)
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