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The Catholic Cathedral of the Holy Mother of God of Avan is located in the Avan Yerevan district on the outskirts of the capital of Armenia. The Avan Cathedral is the oldest surviving church within the city limits of Yerevan.

The church was built in the late 6th century, between 591 and 602. Construction began shortly after the Byzantine-Sasan War ended (572–591), which led to the expansion of direct Byzantine rule over all western regions of Armenia.

Figure 1: a) The cathedral ruin of Zvartnots and the reconstruction model by Toramanian with the floor plan of the buildung. b) The cathedral ruin of Avan, a hypothetical reconstruction and the floor plan of the church.

The architectural historian Toros Toramanian (1864–1934) made the assumption that the Avan Church once had five domes (published in Maroutyan 1976). A single larger dome in the middle and four smaller domes over each corner of the church, over the round corner chambers. Thus, Avan would be the first such example of a church with five domes. The church has a four-pass floor plan with an octagonal central bay over which there was probably originally a dome (Fig. 1b).

A low, arched door leads from the west wall into the church and is surrounded by an ornate covering with three-quarter columns, which are decorated with capitals and bezels. A vischap stone from pagan times was used as a lintel above the main portal. Another door on the north wall, which was probably built at a later date, after the church was built, leads to the Catholic Palace. The church is also of immense architectural importance as the prototype of the much better known masterpiece, the St Hripsime in Ejmiatzin, Armenia.