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86-701: The origin of Araratian Pontifical Diocese dates back the beginning of the 4th century. With the Christianzation of Armenia, Saint Gregory the Illuminator established the Catholicosate of All Armenians in Vagharshapat, as well as the Araratian Pontifical Diocese and appointed Bishop Albianus as the first primate vicar of the newly-founded diocese. The name of the diocese is derived from Mount Ararat ;

172-493: A Christian named David. He had two children with Mariam: Aristaces and Vrtanes , who would later succeed Gregory as patriarchs of Armenia. After the birth of their sons, Mariam and Gregory separated, and Gregory went to Armenia to enter the service of King Tiridates III , son of the assassinated king Khosrov II. After Gregory refused to sacrifice to the goddess Anahit , the king had Gregory imprisoned and subjected to many tortures. Once Tiridates discovered that Gregory

258-518: A Turkish dialect (written in Greek alphabet , Karamanlıca ), and where the Greek language was maintained (Sille, villages near Kayseri, Pharasa town and other nearby villages), it became heavily influenced by the surrounding Turkish. This dialect of Eastern Roman Greek is known as Cappadocian Greek . Following the foundation of Turkey in 1922, those who still identified with this pre-Islamic culture of Cappadocia were required to leave , so this language

344-541: A buffer zone against the encroaching Romans. It was not until Rome had deposed the Pontic and Armenian kings that the rule of Ariobarzanes was established (63 BC). In the civil wars Cappadocia was first for Pompey , then for Caesar , then for Antony , and finally, Octavian . The Ariobarzanes dynasty came to an end, a Cappadocian nobleman Archelaus was given the throne, by favour first of Antony and then of Octavian, and maintained tributary independence until AD 17, when

430-530: A cult of wind worshippers. In 2010 and early 2011, the film Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance was also filmed in the Cappadocia region. Autechre 's second album, Amber , features a photo of this region's fairy mountains as the cover art , being their only album whose cover isn't computer-generated. Cappadocia's winter landscapes and broad panoramas are prominent in the 2014 film Winter Sleep (Turkish: Kış Uykusu), directed by Nuri Bilge Ceylan , which won

516-716: A foe espousing the cause of Antiochus the Great , then as an ally against Perseus of Macedon . The kings henceforward threw in their lot with the Republic as against the Seleucids , to whom they had been from time to time tributary. Ariarathes V marched with the Roman proconsul Publius Licinius Crassus Dives Mucianus against Aristonicus , a claimant to the throne of Pergamon , and their forces were annihilated (130 BC). The imbroglio which followed his death ultimately led to interference by

602-536: A large quantity of ashes and where the magi keep the fire ever burning." According to Strabo, who wrote during the time of Augustus ( r.  27 BC – AD 14 ), almost three hundred years after the fall of the Achaemenid Persian Empire, there remained only traces of Persians in western Asia Minor ; however, he considered Cappadocia "almost a living part of Persia". Under Ariarathes IV , Cappadocia came into relations with Rome , first as

688-619: A member of the Parthian noble house of Suren . At the incitation of the Sasanian king Ardashir I , who promised to return Anak his domain as a reward, the Parthian nobleman went to Armenia and assassinated the Arsacid king of Armenia Khosrov II after gaining his confidence. Anak was then put to death by the Armenian nobles along with his entire family․ Anak's son Gregory narrowly escaped execution with

774-569: A number of religious orders to flee the Byzantine Empire and seek refuge elsewhere. San Gregorio Armeno in Naples was built in that century over the remains of a Roman temple dedicated to Ceres , by a group of nuns escaping from the Byzantine Empire with the relics of Gregory, including his skull, arms, a femur bone, his staff, the leather straps used in his torture and the manacles that held

860-477: A priest in the rank of presbyters; and afterwards did not hoard even what remained to him". In 371, the western part of the Cappadocia province was divided into Cappadocia Prima, with its capital at Caesarea (modern-day Kayseri); and Cappadocia Secunda, with its capital at Tyana . By 386, the region to the east of Caesarea had become part of Armenia Secunda, while the northeast had become part of Armenia Prima. Cappadocia largely consisted of major estates, owned by

946-627: A reference, and/or with a substantial contribution to the development of geological sciences through history.' Cappadocia was known as Hatti in the late Bronze Age , and was the homeland of the Hittite power centred at Hattusa . After the fall of the Hittite Empire, with the decline of the Syro-Cappadocians ( Mushki ) after their defeat by the Lydian king Croesus in the 6th century BC, Cappadocia

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1032-627: Is a church and a monastery in Naples , Italy named after the Gregory the Illuminator He is honored with a feast day on the liturgical calendar of the Episcopal Church (USA) on March 23. Cappadocia Cappadocia ( / k æ p ə ˈ d oʊ ʃ ə ˌ - ˈ d oʊ k i ə / ; Turkish : Kapadokya , Greek : Καππαδοκία) is a historical region in Central Anatolia , Turkey . It

1118-517: Is also said to have journeyed to Rome with King Tiridates in an embassy to the recently converted Constantine the Great , but scholar Robert W. Thomson views this as fictional. The conversion of Armenia to Christianity is traditionally dated to 301, but modern scholarship considers a later date, approximately 314, to be a more likely. Additionally, the history of Agathangelos depicts the spread of Christianity of Armenia as having occurred practically entirely within Gregory's lifetime, when, in fact, it

1204-703: Is an incomplete list of inactive or ruined churches and monasteries in the territory regulated by the Araratian Pontifical Diocese: Gregory the Illuminator Gregory the Illuminator ( Classical Armenian : Գրիգոր Լուսաւորիչ , reformed spelling : Գրիգոր Լուսավորիչ, Grigor Lusavorich ; c.  257  – c.  328 ) was the founder and first official head of the Armenian Apostolic Church . He converted Armenia from Zoroastrianism to Christianity in

1290-530: Is attested as late as 465". The Cappadocian Fathers of the 4th century were integral to much of early Christian philosophy . It also produced, among other people, another Patriarch of Constantinople , John of Cappadocia , who held office 517–520. For most of the Byzantine era it remained relatively undisturbed by the conflicts in the area with the Sassanid Empire, but was a vital frontier zone later against

1376-542: Is available in Göreme. Trekking is practised in Ihlara Valley, Monastery Valley ( Güzelyurt ), Ürgüp and Göreme . In 1975, a study of three small villages in central Cappadocia—Tuzköy, Karain and Sarıhıdır—found that mesothelioma was causing 50% of all deaths. Initially, this was attributed to erionite , a zeolite mineral with similar properties to asbestos , but detailed epidemiological investigation demonstrated that

1462-602: Is depicted next to John the Baptist, the prophet Elijah , and most likely Thaddeus, James of Nisibis , and the apostle Bartholomew on the east façade of the tenth-century Aghtamar Cathedral in Lake Van . Sixteen scenes depicting Gregory's life are painted in the Church of Tigran Honents in Ani (1215), that contains the most complete painted interior of all medieval Armenian monuments. Gregory

1548-530: Is depicted on the silver reliquary of Skevra (1293), the best known work of precious metal from Armenian Cilicia , along with Saint Thaddeus, and on the reliquary of the Holy Sign (1300), another significant piece of Armenian metalwork made at the Monastery of Khotakerats , along with John the Baptist. Gregory is depicted with King Trdat on the left and Hripsime on a 1448 processional banner of embroidered silk kept at

1634-496: Is exclusively Hittite , while its Luwian equivalent is zanta . Therefore, the recent modification of this proposal operates with the Hittite katta peda- , literally "place below" as a starting point for the development of the toponym Cappadocia. The earlier derivation from Iranian Hu-apa-dahyu 'Land of good horses' can hardly be reconciled with the phonetic shape of Kat-patuka . Several other etymologies have also been offered in

1720-633: Is largely in the provinces of Nevşehir , Kayseri , Aksaray , Kırşehir , Sivas and Niğde . According to Herodotus , in the time of the Ionian Revolt (499 BC), the Cappadocians were reported as occupying a region from Mount Taurus to the vicinity of the Euxine ( Black Sea ). Cappadocia, in this sense, was bounded in the south by the chain of the Taurus Mountains that separate it from Cilicia , to

1806-595: Is largely semi-arid. Cappadocia contained the sources of the Sarus and Pyramus rivers with their higher affluents, and also the middle course of the Halys , and the whole course of the tributary of the Euphrates later called Tokhma Su. But as no one of these rivers was navigable or served to fertilize the lands along its course, none has much importance in the history of the province. Ignimbrites of Miocene age are present within

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1892-794: Is now only spoken by a handful of their descendants, most now located in modern Greece. The area is a popular tourist destination, as it has many areas with unique geological, historic, cultural, and religious features. Touristic Cappadocia includes four cities: Nevşehir , Kayseri , Aksaray and Niğde . The region is located southwest of the major city Kayseri , which has airline and railway service to Ankara and Istanbul and other cities. The most important towns and destinations in Cappadocia are Ürgüp , Göreme , Love Valley , Ihlara Valley , Selime , Guzelyurt, Uçhisar , Avanos and Zelve. Sedimentary rocks formed in lakes and streams and ignimbrite deposits that erupted from ancient volcanoes approximately nine to three million years ago, during

1978-774: The Carrara marble was installed in the north courtyard of St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City in January 2005. Sculpted by France-based Lebanese-Armenian sculptor Khatchik Kazandjian, the statue was inaugurated by Pope John Paul II . Gregory is depicted holding a cross in one hand and the Bible in the other. Pope Benedict XVI inaugurated the area as St. Gregory the Illuminator Courtyard in February 2008. Church of San Gregorio Armeno

2064-724: The Crusader States following the Fourth Crusade . To the crusaders, Cappadocia was terra Hermeniorum , the land of the Armenians, due to the large number of Armenians settled there. Cappadocia contains several underground cities (see Kaymaklı Underground City ), many of which were dug by Christians to provide protection during periods of persecution . The underground cities have vast defence networks of traps throughout their many levels. These traps are very creative, including such devices as large round stones to block doors and holes in

2150-454: The Diocese of Pontus . The region suffered famine in 368 described as "the most severe ever remembered" by Gregory of Nazianzus : The city was in distress and there was no source of assistance [...] The hardest part of all such distress is the insensibility and insatiability of those who possess supplies [...] Such are the buyers and sellers of corn [...] by his word and advice [ Basil's ] open

2236-490: The Euphrates . In two non-Armenian versions of Agathangelos's history, Gregory also baptizes together with Tiridates the kings of Caucasian Albania , Georgia and Lazica /Abkhazia. He founded schools for the Christian education of children, where the languages of instruction were Greek and Syriac . He established the ecclesiastical structure of Armenia, appointing as bishops some of the children of pagan priests. Gregory

2322-632: The Muslim conquests . From the 7th century, Cappadocia was divided between the Anatolic and Armeniac themes . In the 9th–11th centuries, the region comprised the themes of Charsianon and Cappadocia . Cappadocia shared an always-changing relationship with neighbouring Armenia , by that time a region of the Empire. The Arab historian Abu Al Faraj asserts the following about Armenian settlers in Sebasteia , during

2408-655: The Palme d'Or at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival . Since 2012, a multiday track running ultramarathon of desert concept, called Runfire Cappadocia Ultramarathon , is held annually in July. The race tours 244 km (152 mi) in six days through several places across Cappadocia reaching out to Lake Tuz . Between September 9 and September 13, 2016, for the first time, the Turkish Presidential Bike Tour took place in Cappadocia where more than 300 cyclists from around

2494-744: The Pammakaristos Church in Constantinople (14th century). One of the sections of Moscow's iconic Saint Basil's Cathedral is named after Gregory the Armenian ( Tserkov Grigoriya Armyanskogo ). It is dedicated to the capture of Ars Tower of the Kazan Kremlin by Ivan the Terrible during the Siege of Kazan on September 30, 1552, on his feast day. In the 8th century, the iconoclast decrees in Greece caused

2580-634: The Treaty of Moscow in 1921 , the Araratian Diocese lost the territories of Kars and Nakhijevan. The diocese lost most of its properties under the Soviet rule between 1920 and 1991. With the independence of Armenia in 1991, the Armenian Church was reorganized, most of the properties were returned to the church and many new dioceses were established based on the administrative divisions of Armenia . Currently,

2666-602: The biblical account given in the book of Acts 2:9 . The Cappadocians were named as one group (among "Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia") hearing the Gospel account from Galileans in their own language on the day of Pentecost shortly after the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Acts 2:5 states "Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven," seeming to suggest that some of

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2752-583: The 10th century: They [the Armenians] were assigned the Sebaste (now Siwas) district of Cappadocia. Their number grew to such an extent that they became valuable auxiliaries to the imperial armies. They were employed to garrison the fortresses reconquered from the Arabs (probably Membedj, Dolouk, etc.). They formed excellent infantry for the armies of Basileus in all wars, constantly fighting with courage and success alongside

2838-551: The Araratian Pontifical Diocese is the largest diocese of the Armenian Church, with around 1.3 million people under its jurisdiction. The primate vicar of the diocese is Archbishop Navasard Kchoyan, serving since 1999. The diocesan headquarters are located in the capital Yerevan, next to the Saint Sarkis Cathedral . As of June 2017, the diocese has the below listed churches and chapels functioning under its jurisdiction, operating throughout Yerevan and Ararat Province , with

2924-481: The Armenian Church is sometimes called lusavorchʻakan ("of the Illuminator") or Gregorian. In the Armenian tradition, the standard version of the life of Gregory the Illuminator derives from the fifth-century hagiographic history attributed to Agathangelos . According to Agathangelos's account, Gregory was the son of the Parthian nobleman Anak ; the later Armenian historian Movses Khorenatsi identifies Anak as

3010-456: The Armenian people, and traveled throughout Armenia, destroying pagan temples and building churches in their place. Gregory eventually gave up the patriarchate to live as a hermit and was succeeded by his son Aristaces . Gregory's descendants, called the Gregorids , hereditarily held the office of Patriarch of Armenia with some interruptions until the fifth century. It is in Gregory's honor that

3096-557: The Cappadocian kingdom, cut off from their co-religionists in Iran proper, continued to practice Zoroastrianism . Strabo , observing them in the first century BC, records (XV.3.15) that these "fire kindlers" possessed many "holy places of the Persian Gods", as well as fire temples . Strabo furthermore relates, were "noteworthy enclosures; and in their midst there is an altar, on which there is

3182-691: The Cappadocians were Jews , or part of the diaspora of Jews present in Jerusalem at the time. The region is also mentioned in the Jewish Mishnah , in Ketubot 13:11, and in several places in the Talmud , including Yevamot 121a, Hullin 47b. Under the later kings of the Persian Empire, the Cappadocians were divided into two satrapies , or governments, with one comprising the central and inland portion, to which

3268-541: The Council of Nicaea; Cyril Toumanoff gives 328 as the year of Gregory's death. Levon Ter-Petrosyan , philologist and Armenia's first president, postulates that Gregory and Mesrop Mashtots had the most influence on the course of Armenian history. James R. Russell argues that both Gregory and Mashtots were visionaries, found a champion for their program in the king, looked to the West, had very strong pro-Hellenic bias, trained

3354-482: The Ottoman Empire until 1922, when it became part of the modern state of Turkey . A fundamental change occurred in between when a new urban center, Nevşehir , was founded in the early 18th century by a grand vizier who was a native of the locality ( Nevşehirli Damat İbrahim Pasha ), to serve as regional capital, a role the city continues to assume to this day. In the meantime many former Cappadocians had shifted to

3440-549: The Persian Empire, Alexander the Great tried to rule the area through one of his military commanders. But Ariarathes , previously satrap of the region, declared himself king of the Cappadocians. As Ariarathes I (332–322 BC), he was a successful ruler, and he extended the borders of the Cappadocian Kingdom as far as to the Black Sea . The kingdom of Cappadocia lived in peace until the death of Alexander. The previous empire

3526-715: The Roman emperors or wealthy local families. The Cappadocian provinces became more important in the latter part of the 4th century, as the Romans were involved with the Sasanian Empire over control of Mesopotamia and "Armenia beyond the Euphrates". Cappadocia, now well into the Roman era, still retained a significant Iranian character; Stephen Mitchell notes in the Oxford Dictionary of Late Antiquity : "Many inhabitants of Cappadocia were of Persian descent and Iranian fire worship

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3612-402: The Romans. As a result of the Byzantine military campaigns and the Seljuk invasion of Armenia, the Armenians spread into Cappadocia and eastward from Cilicia into the mountainous areas of northern Syria and Mesopotamia , and the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia was eventually formed. This immigration was increased further after the decline of the local imperial power and the establishment of

3698-403: The Taurus Mountains form the boundary with Cilicia and separate Cappadocia from the Mediterranean Sea . To the west, Cappadocia is bounded by the historical regions of Lycaonia to the southwest, and Galatia to the northwest. Due to its inland location and high altitude, Cappadocia has a markedly continental climate, with hot dry summers and cold snowy winters. Rainfall is sparse and the region

3784-466: The Treasury of Etchmiadzin. At the Vank Cathedral in New Julfa , the Armenian district of Isfahan , Iran, Gregory's martyrdom was painted in a European style by the Italian-trained Hovhannes M'rkuz Jułayeci in 1646. Gregory is commemorated on September 30 by the Eastern Orthodox Church , which styles him "Holy Hieromartyr Gregory, Bishop of Greater Armenia, Equal of the Apostles and Enlightener of Armenia." His relics were scattered near and far in

3870-490: The Uzundere, Bağıldere and Zemi Valleys, all evidence Cappadocia as a centre of early Christian learning and are thus a place of pilgrimage. The Göreme Open Air Museum is the most visited site of the Christian monastic communities in Cappadocia (see Churches of Göreme and Churches of the Ihlara Valley ) and is one of the most famous sites in central Turkey. The complex contains more than 30 carved-from-rock churches and chapels , some having superb frescoes inside, dating from

3956-425: The area of Kars in 1878, covering almost the entire area of Eastern Armenia . At the beginning of the 20th century, the Araratian Pontifical Diocese had 643 churches, 13 monastic complexes and more than 150 schools functioning under its jurisdiction. In August 1920, upon a kontakion issued by Catholicos George V , the territory of Shirak was separated from the Araratian Diocese to form the Diocese of Shirak . After

4042-542: The area. In respect of the 'voluminous eruption deposits in a fluvio-lacustrine sequence with 'fairy-chimney' development produced by uplift and erosion', the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS) included 'The Miocene Cappadocian ignimbrites sequence' in its assemblage of 100 'geological heritage sites' around the world in a listing published in October 2022. The organisation defines an IUGS Geological Heritage Site as 'a key place with geological elements and/or processes of international scientific relevance, used as

4128-457: The armed resistance of the pagan priests. Gregory then went to Caesarea with a retinue of Armenian princes and was consecrated bishop of Armenia by Leontius of Caesarea . Until the death of Nerses I in the late fourth century, Gregory's successors would go to Caesarea to be confirmed as bishops of Armenia, and Armenia remained under the titular authority of the metropolitans of Caesarea. Returning to Armenia, Gregory raised churches in place of

4214-406: The ceiling through which the defenders may drop spears. Following the Battle of Manzikert in 1071, various Turkish clans under the leadership of the Seljuks began settling in Anatolia . With the rise of Turkish power in Anatolia, Cappadocia slowly became a tributary to the Turkish states that were established to the east and to the west; some of the native population converted to Islam with

4300-446: The children of pagan priests and assembled their own disciples to spread the faith through learning. After his death his corpse was removed to the village of Thodanum (T'ordan, modern Doğanköy, Kemah , near Erzincan ). The Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin , the Armenian Catholicosate of the Great House of Cilicia , the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem and the Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople each claim to have relics from

4386-409: The city's registers, only 350 out of the city's 10,000 inhabitants died in the earthquake, leading the inhabitants to believe that St. Gregory saved the city. Every year, they mark the anniversary of the earthquake by holding three days of celebrations in his honor. Two relics of the saint are at Nardò Cathedral : one is kept in a silver bust of the saint, which is carried in processions, and the other,

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4472-420: The destroyed pagan temples and seized their estates and wealth for the Armenian Church and his house. On the site of the destroyed temple to Vahagn at Ashtishat , Gregory raised a church which became the original center of the Armenian Church and remained so until after the partition of the country in 387. Gregory met King Tiridates near the town of Bagavan and baptized the Armenian king, army and people in

4558-429: The early fourth century (traditionally dated to 301), making Armenia the first state to adopt Christianity as its official religion. He is venerated as a saint in the Armenian Apostolic Church and in some other churches. Gregory is said to have been the son of a Parthian nobleman, Anak , who assassinated the Arsacid king of Armenia Khosrov II . The young Gregory was saved from the extermination of Anak's family and

4644-645: The east by the upper Euphrates , to the north by Pontus , and to the west by Lycaonia and eastern Galatia . The name, traditionally used in Christian sources throughout history, continues in use as an international tourism concept to define a region of exceptional natural wonders, in particular characterized by fairy chimneys , in addition to its religious heritage of being a centre of early Christian learning, evidenced by hundreds of churches and monasteries (such as those of Göreme and Ihlara ), as well as underground cities that were dug to offer protection during periods of persecution . The earliest record of

4730-406: The emperor Tiberius , whom he had angered, summoned him to Rome and reduced Cappadocia to a Roman province. In 70 AD, Vespasian joined Armenia Minor to Cappadocia, and made the combined province a frontier bulwark. It remained, under various provincial redistributions, part of the Eastern Empire for centuries. In 314, Cappadocia was the largest province of the Roman Empire, and was part of

4816-454: The exception of the 17th-century Khor Virap monastic complex in Ararat Province, the Cathedral of Saint Gregory in Yerevan opened in 2001, and the Surp Anna Church in Yerevan opened in 2015, which are directly regulated by the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin . Here is the list of churches, monasteries and chapels functioning under the jurisdiction of the Araratian Pontifical Diocese, along with their location and year of consecration: This

4902-408: The famine gained no profit, having only one object, to win kindly feelings by kindly treatment, and to gain by his rations of corn the heavenly blessings. This is similar to another account by Gregory of Nyssa that Basil "ungrudgingly spent upon the poor his patrimony even before he was a priest, and most of all in the time of the famine, during which [Basil] was a ruler of the Church, though still

4988-407: The feast of his entry into Khor Virap , the 'deep pit or dungeon' (commemorated on the last Saturday of Lent) and his deliverance from Khor Virap (commemorated on the Saturday before the second Sunday after Pentecost). Gregory has been depicted widely in Armenian art since the early Middle Ages on various media. He is most likely the figure, a saint, carved on a seventh-century stele in Talin . He

5074-423: The fifth century. According to Movses Khorenatsi, Gregory sometimes came out from his hermitage and traveled around the country until Aristaces returned from the Council of Nicaea (325), after which Gregory never appeared to anyone again. He died in seclusion in the cave of Manē and was buried nearby by shepherds who did not know who he was. All of the sources indicate that Gregory's death occurred not long after

5160-555: The first state to adopt Christianity as its official religion. After being released, Gregory preached the Christian faith in Armenia and erected shrines to the martyrs Gayane and Hripsime in Vagharshapat on a spot indicated to him in a vision. Vagharshapat would later become home to the mother church of Armenian Christianity and, by medieval times, called Ejmiatsin ("descent of the only-begotten") in reference to Gregory's vision. Gregory, sometimes accompanied by Tiridates, went around Armenia destroying pagan temples , defeating

5246-444: The focus of this article. The kingdom of Cappadocia still existed in the time of Strabo ( c.  64 BC  – c.  AD 24 ) as a nominally independent state. Cilicia was the name given to the district in which Caesarea , the capital of the whole country, was situated. The only two cities of Cappadocia considered by Strabo to deserve that appellation were Caesarea (originally known as Mazaca ) and Tyana , not far from

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5332-404: The foot of the Taurus . Cappadocia lies in eastern Anatolia , in the heartland of what is now Turkey. The relief consists of a high plateau over 1000 m in altitude that is pierced by volcanic peaks, with Mount Erciyes (ancient Argaeus) near Kayseri (ancient Caesarea) being the tallest at 3916 m . The boundaries of historical Cappadocia are vague, particularly towards the west. To the south,

5418-441: The help of Tiridates' sister Khosrovidukht . Gregory then converted the King to Christianity, and Armenia then became the first country to adopt Christianity as a state religion in 301 AD. Gregory, the Illuminator, then healed King Tiridates, who the hagiographical sources say had been transfomed into a boar for his sins, and preached Christianity in Armenia. He was consecrated bishop of Armenia at Caesarea, baptized King Tiridates and

5504-441: The help of his nurse, whom Khorenatsi calls Sophy, sister of a Cappadocian notable named Euthalius (Ewtʻagh). Gregory was taken to Caesarea in Cappadocia , where he received a Christian upbringing. Jean-Michel Thierry described him as of " Cappadocian culture and religion " and credited him with having introduced "Greek civilization to Armenia." According to Khorenatsi, upon coming of age, Gregory married Mariam , daughter of

5590-505: The late Miocene to Pliocene epochs, underlie the Cappadocia region. The rocks of Cappadocia near Göreme eroded into hundreds of spectacular pillars and minaret -like forms. People of the villages at the heart of the Cappadocia region carved out houses, churches and monasteries from the soft rocks of volcanic deposits. Göreme became a Christian monastic centre in 300–1200 AD. The Yusuf Koç, Ortahane, Durmus Kadir and Bezirhane churches in Göreme, and houses and churches carved into rocks in

5676-428: The late sixth century BC, when it appears in the trilingual inscriptions of two early Achaemenid emperors , Darius the Great and Xerxes I , as one of the countries ( Old Persian dahyu- ). In these lists of countries, the Old Persian name is Katpatuka . It was proposed that Kat-patuka came from the Luwian language , meaning "Low Country". Subsequent research suggests that the adverb katta meaning 'down, below'

5762-490: The metacarpus, is kept within a silver arm-shaped reliquary. The feast day of Saint Gregory the Illuminator is on September 30 according to both the 2004 Roman Martyrology of the Ordinary Form and the 1956 Roman Martyrology of the Extraordinary Form of the Catholic Church ; however, the 1962 Roman Missal and its previous editions list the feast day of "Saint Gregory, Bishop of Greater Armenia and Martyr" on October 1. A 5.7 m (19 ft) tall statue of Gregory in

5848-436: The name of Cappadocia ( / k æ p ə ˈ d oʊ ʃ ə ˌ - ˈ d oʊ k i ə / ; Turkish : Kapadokya ; Ancient Greek : Καππαδοκία , romanized :  Kappadokía , Classical Syriac : ܩܦܘܕܩܝܐ , romanized:  Kəp̄uḏoqyā , from Old Persian : 𐎣𐎫𐎱𐎬𐎢𐎣 Katpatuka ; Hittite : 𒅗𒋫𒁉𒁕 , romanized:  Katapeda ; Armenian : Կապադովկիա, , romanized :  Kapadovkia ) dates from

5934-422: The name of Cappadocia continued to be applied by Greek geographers , while the other was called Pontus . This division had already come about before the time of Xenophon . As after the fall of the Persian government the two provinces continued to be separate, the distinction was perpetuated, and the name Cappadocia came to be restricted to the inland province (sometimes called Great Cappadocia), which alone will be

6020-429: The ninth century to the eleventh century. The three main castles in Cappadocia are Uçhisar Castle, Ortahisar Castle, and Ürgüp Kadıkalesi (Temenni Tepe). Among the most visited underground cities are Derinkuyu , Kaymakli , Gaziemir and Ozkonak . The best historic mansions and cave houses for tourist stays are in Ürgüp , Göreme , Güzelyurt and Uçhisar . Hot-air ballooning is very popular in Cappadocia and

6106-485: The past. Herodotus wrote that the name of the Cappadocians was applied to them by the Persians , while they were termed by the Greeks "White Syrians" ( Leucosyri ), who were most probably descendants of the Hittites . One of the Cappadocian tribes he mentions is the Moschoi , associated by Flavius Josephus with the biblical figure Meshech , son of Japheth : "and the Mosocheni were founded by Mosoch; now they are Cappadocians". AotJ I:6. Cappadocia appears in

6192-669: The reign of the Eastern Roman Emperor Zeno . Relic fragments are found at the Karakallou Monastery and Iviron Monastery on Mount Athos ; the Gregoriou Monastery claims to have the saint's skull. Veneration of Gregory began in the Byzantine Empire in the late 9th century with the ascend of Basil I . A 9th century mosaic of Gregory was uncovered in Hagia Sophia under a layer of plaster in 1847–49 during

6278-590: The rest forming the remaining Cappadocian Greek population. By the end of the early 12th century, Anatolian Seljuks had established their sole dominance over the region. With the decline and the fall of the Konya -based Seljuks in the second half of the 13th century, they were gradually replaced by successive Turkic ruled states: the Karaman -based Beylik of Karaman and then the Ottoman Empire . Cappadocia remained part of

6364-721: The restoration by the Fossati brothers . Located in the south tympanum , next to the Fathers of the Church , it shows Gregory standing in bishop robes, blessing with one hand and holding the Book of the Gospels with the other. The mosaic, thought to have been destroyed in the 1894 earthquake , survives in drawing by Wilhelm Salzenberg and the Fossati brothers. Sirarpie Der Nersessian argued that his inclusion in

6450-673: The right arm of the saint, in an arm-shaped reliquary. The catholicosates of Etchmiadzin and Cilicia use the arm relic for the blessing of the Holy Myron every seven years. In the calendar of the Armenian Church, the discovery of the relics of St. Gregory is an important feast and is commemorated on the Saturday before the Fourth Sunday after Pentecost. Two other feast days in the Armenian Apostolic Church are devoted to St. Gregory:

6536-428: The rising power of Pontus and the intrigues and wars which ended in the failure of the dynasty. The Cappadocians, supported by Rome against Mithridates VI of Pontus , elected a native lord, Ariobarzanes , to succeed (93 BC); but in the same year Armenian troops under Tigranes the Great entered Cappadocia, dethroned king Ariobarzanes and crowned Gordios as the new client-king of Cappadocia, thus creating

6622-573: The saint. The femur and manacles were returned by Pope John Paul II to Catholicos Karekin II and are now enshrined at Saint Gregory the Illuminator Cathedral in Yerevan . On February 20, 1743, Nardò , Italy was hit by a devastating earthquake that destroyed almost the entire city. The only structure to survive intact after the quake was the city's statue of St. Gregory the Illuminator. According to

6708-745: The series of the Church Fathers is explained by the myth of the Arsacid origin of Basil I, likely fabricated by Patriarch Photios I of Constantinople . Gregory is depicted in two prominent Byzantine illuminated manuscripts—the Menologion of Basil II (c. 1000) and the Theodore Psalter (1066) —and in a number of Byzantine churches and monasteries, most notably Hosios Loukas (11th century), Church of Panagia Chalkeon in Thessaloniki (11th century), and

6794-564: The stores of those who possessed them, and so, according to the Scripture, dealt food to the hungry and satisfied the poor with bread [...] He gathered together the victims of the famine [...] and obtaining contributions of all sorts of food which can relieve famine, set before them basins of soup and such meat as was found preserved among us, on which the poor live [...] Such was our young furnisher of corn, and second Joseph [...] [But unlike Joseph, Basil's] services were gratuitous and his succour of

6880-546: The substance causes the disease mostly in families with a genetic predisposition to mineral fiber carcinogenesis. The studies are being extended to other parts of the region. The area was featured in several films due to its topography. The 1983 Italian/French/Turkish film Yor, the Hunter from the Future and 1985's Land of Doom were filmed in Cappadocia. The region was used for the 1989 science fiction film Slipstream to depict

6966-598: The symbol of the Armenian nation. At first, the diocese included the territories of the Ararat plain , Nakhijevan, Kotayk and the western territories of Lake Sevan. It is believed that the diocese was commonly known as the Diocese of Yerevan between the 15th and 19th centuries. Under the Russian rule during the mid-19th century, the jurisdiction of the diocese was expanded to include the territories of Syunik and Shirak as well, followed by

7052-486: Was a more gradual process. Some time after converting Armenia to Christianity, Gregory appointed his younger son Aristaces as his successor and went to live an ascetic life in the "cave of Manē" in the district of Daranali in Upper Armenia . The Patriarchate of Armenia would be held as a hereditary office, with some interruptions, by the house of Gregory, called the Gregorids , until the death of Patriarch Isaac in

7138-564: Was raised as a Christian in Caesarea of Cappadocia , then part of the Roman Empire . Gregory returned to Armenia as an adult and entered the service of King Tiridates III , who had Gregory tortured after he refused to make a sacrifice to a pagan goddess. After discovering Gregory's true identity, Tiridates had him thrown into a deep pit well called Khor Virap for 14 years. Gregory was miraculously saved from death and released after many years with

7224-476: Was ruled by a sort of feudal aristocracy, dwelling in strong castles and keeping the peasants in a servile condition, which later made them apt to foreign slavery. It was included in the third Persian satrapy in the division established by Darius but continued to be governed by rulers of its own, none apparently supreme over the whole country and all more or less tributaries of the Great King . After ending

7310-488: Was the son of his father's killer, he had Gregory thrown into a deep pit called Khor Virap near Artaxata , where he remained for thirteen (or fifteen) years. In Agathangelos's history, Gregory is miraculously saved and brought out from the pit after Tiridates' sister Khosrovidukht sees a vision. Gregory then healed the king, who, Agathangelos writes, had been transformed into a wild boar for his sinful behavior. Tiridates and his court accepted Christianity, making Armenia

7396-416: Was then divided into many parts, and Cappadocia fell to Eumenes . His claims were made good in 322 BC by the regent Perdiccas , who crucified Ariarathes; but in the dissensions which brought about Eumenes's death, Ariarathes II , the adopted son of Ariarathes I, recovered his inheritance and left it to a line of successors, who mostly bore the name of the founder of the dynasty . Persian colonists in

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