A magical semi-ruined cathedral which you need to visit and feel the spirit of the antiquity. The 7th century church of Katoghike, which is also known as the Talin Cathedral, is located at the cemetery in the north of the city of Talin, in the Aragatsotn Province of Armenia. It is one of the largest churches in the country.

Its construction has been attributed to Prince Nerseh Kamsarakan who commissioned the church during the 7th century - a time when the Kamsarakan family ruled over the region surrounding Talin.

According to some reports, the Cathedral was built by the Chalcedonian Armenians, and it is initially functioned as the Orthodox Church, with good number of frescoes in it, but only a small part of which has survived to this day. Today you can see only fragments of frescoes above the main altar depicting the Mother of God, Jesus Christ and the faces of Saints. The most famous of them are “Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem” and “Christ in Glory”. The frescoes were painted by the order of Movses Yekeghetsapan.

The Talin Cathedral was badly damaged by the earthquakes of 1840 and 1931. In 1947, the church was partially restored, but sadly, many parts of it are not subject to restoration, since the original stones were not preserved, and are long gone.

To include the visit to Talin Cathedral in your itinerary, please contact Phoenix Tour in advance at info@phoenixtour.am