The festival of the Cathedral of St. Etchmiadzin is celebrated on Sunday, on the 64th day after the feast of Holy Easter.
Saint Etchmiadzin — one of the former capitals of Armenia. After the adoption of Christianity in Armenia as a state religion in 301, it became the spiritual center of the Armenian Church.
In ancient Armenian, the word « ecmiadzin » means « has come down the only begotten ». According to legend, the Holy See of Hedgehog is built on the place indicated by Christ to St. Gregory in a prophetic dream after the baptism of King Trdat. Near the cathedral are the churches of St. Ripsime and St. Gayane, St. Shogakat, dedicated to the memory of the girls killed in the third century by King Trdat for spreading Christianity.
In St. Etchmiadzin, with reverence, the relics of St. John the Baptist, St. Stephen the First Martyr, the holy apostles Faddeus, Bartholomew, Andrei the First-Called, Thomas, many holy churches and such shrines, are stored, as a particle of the Tree of the Life-giving and Blessed Cross of Christ, a particle of the crown of thorns and a spear piercing Jesus Christ.
Since 2000, the Echmiadzin Cathedral has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is one of the oldest Christian temples in the world.
Every year, hundreds of thousands of tourists from all over the world flock to the city to see these and other relics and treasures.