The 4th century was marked by two important historical events in the life of the Armenian people. In 301, during the reign of King Tiridates III, Christianity was declared the state religion, making Armenia the first country to officially adopt Christianity. In 303, the Armenian spiritual centre, the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, was founded in the capital, Vagharshapat.

In the face of the loss of statehood and the constant threat of foreign conquest, the only way to preserve spiritual and cultural independence was to create Armenian script and literature. In 405, with the direct support of King Vramshapuh and Catholicos Sahak Partev, Mesrop Mashtots created the Armenian alphabet.

From the beginning of the 8th century, during the Arab rule, Dvin became the centre of the administrative unit of “Arminia”, a prosperous trading city full of flourishing crafts and goods. Armenian and foreign written sources refer to Dvin as the “Great Capital”, “Shahastan” with a multinational population of about 100,000.

The exhibition presents:

• Unique examples of Armenian Christian art from the 4th-9th centuries: reliefs, stelae, crosses.
• Four-sided stelae of the 4th-9th centuries, depicting biblical scenes, with different versions of the Crucifixion and the iconography of the Virgin Mary, the oldest of which date from the end of the 4th century.
• A diverse range of early medieval pottery, with examples of simple, refined and glazed ceramics.
• Photographs of classical examples of Armenian architecture from the 4th-7th centuries.
• The rich tradition of early medieval glassmaking, represented by household and luxury examples, flasks used to prepare the mysterious substances of alchemy, and an animated film showing the process of glassmaking.
• Unique examples of roof tiles, representing the art of building.