The first record of Echmiadzin was left by Urartian King Rusa II. Vagarsh I king (117-140 A.D.) fenced it, brought it in good order and made it the capital of Armenia – Vagharshapat. According to historians, Gregory the Illuminator had a vision of Jesus Christ who came down to Vagharshapat and with a golden hammer pointed to the place where the Mother Cathedral was to be built. For this reason, in 301-303 A.D. on the initiative of Trdat III and Gregory the Illuminator the best-known and one of the oldest Armenian Churches, Saint Echmiadzin (,,The place where the only begotten descended,,) was built. The town was called later the Echmiadzin too.

Echmiadzin is one of the first ancient and beautiful churches in the Christian world. For 1700 years Holy Echmiadzin has been the Mother See of the Armenian Church, the spiritual, cultural and, in the past, the political center of Armenia. Here is the residence of the Catholicos of All Armenians, the Gevorgian Theological Seminary, the Library and the Treasury. The monastic complex of Holy Echmiadzin occupies a large territory and has a beautiful architecture. Here, in this ,,Armenian Jerusalem,, all the major ceremonies of the Armenian Apostolic Church are held.