Place · city

Vagharshapat

Vagharshapat is a city in the Armavir province of Armenia, west of Yerevan. Founded or renamed by the Arsacid king Vagharsh I in the 2nd century CE, it became the capital of Armenia after Artaxata, and it is the site of Etchmiadzin Cathedral, seat of the Catholicos of the Armenian Apostolic Church. The city was officially called Etchmiadzin for much of the 20th century.

Vagharshapat
Image: Areg Amirkhanian · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Mentioned in 1 state history

Kingdom of Armenia (Arsacid)

See also

Cite this entry
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Vagharshapat. In The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/vagharshapat
MLA
“Vagharshapat.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/vagharshapat. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Vagharshapat.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/vagharshapat.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Vagharshapat’, The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/vagharshapat (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random entry ↻