Royal Mausoleum of Aghtsk

The Royal Mausoleum of Armenian Kings Aghtsk is located at 30 km distance from Yerevan, not far from Ashtarak, at the bottom of Aragats on the right side of the road leading to Gyumri, in the village of the same name. Armenian narrator Faustus the Byzantine witnesses that in the 4th century during the Armenian-Persian War, the Persian king Shapur II occupied the Armenian city of Ani-Kamagh, where the remains of Armenian powerful kings were buried. He commanded to destroy the graves of the Armenian kings in order to take their remains to Persia as he wanted to reduce the power of Armenian spirit. However, the Armenian armed forces in the head of Commander Vasak Mamikonian, pursued the Persian army and won them in the battle, rescuing the bones of the Armenian kings from captivity. As Armenian kings sepulchers of pagan period are concerned, their remains were not buried in the capital city, but at the bottom of Aragats, and in this inaccessible place they were buried and a mausoleum on the grave was built. In fact, there are no bones of Christian kings in this mausoleum, as it is known, that during that period Armenian king Tiran Arshakuni was blind,but still alive, the king Khosrow II Kotak is buried in his capital city of Dvin, and Tiridates III was not buried in Ani either. The architectural complex of Aghtsk also includes a 5th century basilica church. There was a pagan cathedral instead of the church before.