Saint Shoghakat Church

Saint Shoghakat Church is a small yet architecturally beautiful monument. It is the newest structure within the architectural complex of Etchmiadzin, built in 1694 by Prince Aghamal Shorotetsi, to the west of Saint Hripsime Church. According to tradition, the church was established at the site where a ""ray of light (shogh) descended"" upon the Hripsimean martyred virgins. On the western side, a narthex is attached, crowned by an octagonal rotunda bell tower. The church has entrances from both the east and the west. Very close by lie the ruins of a small chapel, dating back to the 5th–6th centuries. The layout and proportions are characteristic of early medieval architecture of this type, suggesting that Saint Shoghakat may have been built upon the foundations of a 6th–7th-century structure. The dome, resting on an octagonal drum, is located not above the structure itself but in the center of a hall with two pairs of wall-pillars, in the manner of ancient churches of this kind. The western narthex-hall is directly attached, and the church has two entrances, one from the west, and one from the south.