Mashtots Hayrapet Church

The Mashtots Hayrapet Church sits in the village of Garni itself, a short walk from the pagan temple. It is a small medieval Armenian church, typical of the style developed in this region: square plan, conical drum and pointed dome, walls of finely cut basalt. The church dates from the medieval period and is still used for worship.

The church is easy to overlook in a rush to get to the temple, but it is worth a few minutes. The juxtaposition of the pre-Christian temple just up the road and this Christian church in the village is a compact demonstration of Armenia's long religious history — from Zoroastrian sun worship in the 1st century AD through the adoption of Christianity in 301, making Armenia the first country to adopt it as a state religion.

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The church is dedicated to Mashtots, the 5th-century monk who created the Armenian alphabet — one of the most consequential acts in the cultural history of the Caucasus. Before Mashtots invented the script around 405 AD, Armenian had no written form; the liturgy was conducted in Greek or Syriac. The alphabet he created is still in use today, essentially unchanged, making it one of the oldest continuously-used alphabets in the world.

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