Zvartnots Cathedral

Zvartnots Cathedral stands as the ruined remains of a 7th-century Armenian church built between 641 and 661 on the order of Catholicos Nerses III Tayetsi, and dedicated to St. Gregory the Illuminator. Nothing else in medieval Armenian architecture used its circular exterior layout — a ring of interior piers once carried a multi-floor structure topped by a dome.

The cathedral collapsed centuries ago, leaving the site as an archaeological zone rather than a standing building. In 2000, UNESCO added the ruins and the surrounding excavated ground to its World Heritage list.

The site sits in Armavir region, next to Vagharshapat (Etchmiadzin), about 15 km west of Yerevan in a straight line.