The university revealed details of the fourth-century church in a press release on October 11.
The University of Münster collaborated with archaeologists from the National Academy of Sciences of Armenia to find the ancient ruins.
The remains of the ancient Christian building were found at the site of Artaxata in the Ararat Plain, where archaeologists have been conducting excavations there since 2018, but they did not find the remains until recently.
The University of Münster explained that the discovered building is octagonal (eight-sided) with extensions in the shape of a cross. She added in a press statement: “The team excavated parts of the church and studied them using geophysical methods. Typologically, the find corresponds to early Christian memorial buildings. “In the cruciform-shaped extensions, scientists discovered remains of wooden platforms, which have been radiocarbon dated to the mid-4th century AD.”
The oldest Christian church buildings date back to the third and fourth centuries. The octagonal church at Artaxata had a floor made of mortar and clay tiles, and was about 30 meters in diameter.
There were also some fragments of marble imported from the Mediterranean, which indicate that the church was “lavishly decorated,” experts say.
“The 4th-century building is the oldest archaeologically documented church in the country, and is exciting evidence of early Christianity in Armenia,” Professor Achim Lichtenberger of the University of Münster said in the statement.
This is consistent with information that Armenia was the first Christian country in the world. The University of Münster explained: “According to legend, Gregory the Illuminator converted the Armenian king Tiridates III to Christianity in Artaxata in 301 AD, making Armenia the first Christian country in the world.”
Source: New York Post
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