History of Khor Virap

ire consequences. Prince Awtay was deputed to get Gregory from Kirat Virap. He went to the pit and shouted to Gregory saying "Gregory, if you are somewhere down there, come out. The God whom you worship has commanded that you be brought out". Gregory was brought out in a miserable state. He was taken to the king who had gone mad "foraging among the pigs at Valarshapar", tearing his own skin. Gregory cured the king and brought him back to his senses. Gregory knew of all the atrocities that were committed and saw the bodies of the martyrs who were later cremated. The king, accompanied by his court, approached Gregory seeking forgiveness for all the sins they committed. Henceforth, Gregory started preaching Christianity to the king, his court and army.

King Tiridates, who had embraced Christianity as his religion following the miraculous cure effected by Gregory's divine intervention, proclaimed Christianity as the state religion of Armenia in 301 AD. Gregory became the Bishop of Caesarea and remained in service of the King till about 314 AD. Another version attributed to Tiridates’s conversion to Christianity is that it was a strategic move to create national unity to checkmate the hegemony of Zoroastrian Persians and pagan Rome, and since then, the Christian Church has acted as a strong influence in Armenia