Saint Gayane Church is located in Vagharshapat, just south of the Mother Cathedral of Etchmiadzin, on the site where, according to tradition, the abbess Gayane was martyred together with Hripsime and the other virgins. The present church was built in 630, during the catholicosate of Ezra, on the site of an earlier mausoleum, and has almost completely preserved its original appearance. It is a three-aisled, four-pier domed basilica, which is one of the finest examples of this type of 7th‑century churches. The church is included in the UNESCO World Heritage complex “Etchmiadzin Cathedral and Churches and the Archaeological Site of Zvartnots”.