Shoghakat Church
Small 17th-century church in Echmiadzin
- Area Armavir
- Type Religious site
- Time needed 15m
Shoghakat is a small 17th-century church in Echmiadzin, built on the site of an earlier one and the least visited of the town's four main churches. It takes a quarter of an hour and is usually empty.
Open in the planner →Getting there
It is roughly 25 km and about 27 minutes from Yerevan on the app's estimate, within Echmiadzin itself and a short drive from St Gayane. Street parking is straightforward.
What you see
The church is a single domed hall of reddish stone with an arcaded porch across the west front and modest carving around the doorway. Fragments of the older building are set into the walls and lie in the yard. The enclosure is quiet, with a few graves and khachkars.
What to pair it with
It belongs in the same short circuit as St Gayane, St Hripsime and the Echmiadzin cathedral.
When to go
Any daylight hour. The door is not always open, and services on Sundays take precedence.
What is hard about it
It is distinctly minor next to the 7th-century churches nearby, and plainly later in style. Fifteen minutes is honestly all it needs, and the door may be locked when you arrive.
Common questions
Is Shoghakat worth including?
If you are already doing the other Echmiadzin churches, yes, for the sake of fifteen minutes. On its own it does not justify the drive.
When was it built?
It dates from the 17th century, replacing an earlier church on the same spot.
Will I find it open?
Not always. It is a small working church without fixed visitor hours. [VERIFY — confirm current details]
Nearby
- Echmiadzin CathedralMother church of the Armenian Apostolic Church
- Zvartnots Cathedral ruinsRuins of a 7th-century circular cathedral
- St Hripsime ChurchModel of classical 7th-century Armenian architecture
- St Gayane ChurchHarmonious 7th-century church in Echmiadzin
- Sardarapat MemorialBattle memorial and ethnography museum
- MetsamorBronze Age metallurgy site and museum
More of the same kind
- Blue Mosque18th-century Persian mosque with a tiled courtyard
- St Gregory the Illuminator CathedralLargest cathedral in Armenia, consecrated in 2001
- Katoghike ChurchTiny 13th-century chapel, the oldest in central Yerevan
- Zoravor Church17th-century church in a quiet courtyard