The town originated as Vardkesavan in the 4th or 3rd century BC. King Vagharsh (117-140) had the name changed to Vagharshapat which still persists as the official appellation of the town. Several decades later the town became the capital of Armenia and remained the country's most important city until the 4th century AD.
Historically, the focal point of the town is the Echmiadzin Cathedral, the oldest in the world. It was originally built by Saint Gregory the Illuminator as a vaulted basilica in 301-303, when Armenia was the only country in the world the state religion of which was Christianity. According to the 5th-century Armenian annals, St. Gregory had a vision of Christ descending from heaven and striking the earth with a golden hammer to show where the cathedral should be built. Hence, the patriarch gave the church and the town the new name of Echmiadzin, which may be translated as "the place where the Only Begotten descended".
