Built in 618 AD by Catholicos Komitas, the church of Saint Hripsime is the most architecturally celebrated of the Echmiadzin churches. Its tetraconch plan — a Greek cross with four conches — became the template for Armenian church-building over the following centuries, and the proportions are so clean that you can take in the whole structure with a single glance. The exterior is austere reddish tuff, the only decoration being a few discreet niches and a delicately carved frame around the western door.
The interior is small but striking, with a high central dome resting on four pillars. There is little furniture beyond the altar and a few khachkars (carved cross-stones), which keeps attention on the architecture itself. The church sits in a walled garden just off the main road from Yerevan, so it is easy to combine with the cathedral and the Gayane church.