This Newly Discovered, Octagonal Building in Armenia Is One of the World’s Oldest Christian Churches

Archaeologists have uncovered the oldest known Christian church in Armenia. Shaped like an octagon with cross-shaped extensions, the structure’s foundations are more than 1,600 years old, also making it one of the earliest known Christian churches in the world.

“The fourth-century building [offers] sensational evidence for early Christianity in Armenia,” says Achim Lichtenberger, an archaeologist at the University of Münster in Germany, in a statement.

Researchers from the University of Münster and the National Academy of Sciences of Armenia found the church in 2023, then returned to excavate and study it this year. The monument is located in the ancient city of Artaxata, which served as Armenia’s capital for nearly six centuries.

In the early fourth century C.E., Tiridates III, who had been raised and educated in Rome, ruled Armenia from its capital. Legend has it that in the early 300s, a saint known as Gregory the Illuminator converted Tiridates to Christianity. The king decreed the faith Armenia’s official religion, making it the first Christian state, decades before the Roman Empire officially embraced Christianity in 380 C.E.

The Armenian and German archaeologists have been studying Artaxata’s ruins since 2018, and the church’s footprint is their most significant discovery thus far. The site is composed of an octagonal floor plan nearly 100 feet across, laid with a “simple mortar floor and terracotta tiles,” according to the statement. The octagon has long been a significant Christian symbol: As a visualization of the number eight, it evokes the number of days that passed between Jesus’s entry into Jerusalem and his resurrection, in addition to more generally representing rebirth.

“Octagonal churches were unknown here until now,” says Mkrtich H. Zardaryan, an expert at the National Academy, in the statement. “But we are very familiar with them from the Eastern Mediterranean region, where they first appeared in the fourth century C.E.”

In the Artaxata church’s cross-shaped extensions, researchers found remains of wooden platforms that were radiocarbon dated to around 350 C.E. Excavations also uncovered pieces of marble, indicating that the building was once decorated with the fine stone, which would have been imported from the Mediterranean.

The church is now one of a few local monuments representing early Armenian Christianity. The medieval Khor Virap monastery, which dates to the seventh century, is located a few miles to the south. And about 20 miles north is Etchmiadzin Cathedral, a UNESCO-listed site that was built around the same time and is widely considered the world’s oldest cathedral. Still, as Lichtenberger tells Artnet News’ Richard Whiddington, no archaeological evidence has confirmed Etchmiadzin’s age.

The researchers will continue excavating the octagonal church’s foundations, hoping to learn more about its origins, including the person to whom it was originally dedicated. Already, the site has become an important reminder of the country’s religious history.

“Armenia is the oldest Christian state in the world,” Lichtenberger tells Artnet News. “Our monument attests to the early Christianization.”

Sonja Anderson | READ MORE

Sonja Anderson is a writer and reporter based in New York City.