Khor Virap is a monastery in the province of Ararat. This is one of the most culturally and historically significant monuments in Armenia. Khor Virap is Armenian for “deep pit”. This is where Saint Gregory the Illuminator (“Surb Grigor Lusavorich” in Armenian) was imprisoned for 13 years living in this deep pit. In a way, this can be seen as a monument to the birth of Armenian Christianity. In fact, it can be seen as the starting place of Christianity altogether, as Armenia was the first country to adopt it as an official religion. This is due to the work of Saint Gregory.
Saint Gregory was preaching Christianity in a pagan Armenia. He eventually was imprisoned by King Tiridates III, who believed his father was killed by Gregory’s father. King Tiridates was pagan at that time, since Armenia was a pagan nation for centuries, so Saint Gregory’s teachings of Christianity were not well received by him at first. As with many new ideas, this new religion was not initially well embraced, and Gregory was imprisoned partly as a result of this.
The Legend of Tiridates’ Conversion
Saint Gregory was kept in the pit of Khor Virap for 13 years without being provided with food and water. The king, meanwhile, had become very sick, with an illness that made him act primitively, like a boar. One day, his sister, Khosrovidukht, had a vision. In this vision, she saw that her brother could be cured of his sickness, but only by one person: Gregory. He was then temporarily let out of his prison pit, so that he could try to cure the king, as seen in Khosrovidukht’s vision. Nobody believed that he would be alive, because they did not feed him when he was in the pit. The fact that he survived was like a miracle. He successfully cured the king, making the king ever grateful to him, and to his god. Tiridates was then converted to Christianity, healed by Saint Gregory, and thus decided to quit persecuting Christians and instead adopt the religion. Armenia then became the first country in history to adopt Christianity.
Khor Virap Monastery
About the Monastery
The monument itself dates back to 642 AD. The monastery is about 8 kilometers from Artashat, close to the Turkish border. One can take a trip there from Yerevan quite easily, as it might require only 30 minutes of driving. It is one of the most visited sites in all of Armenia due to its significance as a kind of birthplace of Armenian Christianity. From it you can see Mount Ararat with great clarity and vividity, another hugely important monument of Armenian nationality. The monastery is very close to the mountain, and you can even see the border with Turkey from there. The church that stands today was actually built in 17 century, around the ruins of the original chapel. The church has greatly suffered from various earthquakes, with the most disastrous being the earthquake of 1679.
To this day, the Khor Virap monastery lies on top of the pit where Saint Gregory was imprisoned, and you can go down into it.
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