This stop is for the stone itself. Hripsime church is one of the oldest buildings in Armenia still standing as it was built: a compact, square-planned church topped by a drum and a conical dome, finished in 618 under the Catholicos Komitas, and so well proportioned that architects have been copying the plan for fourteen centuries. It sits in a green enclosure on the western side of Vagharshapat, a short ride from the cathedral at Echmiatsin, and its tuff walls have gone the colour of dark honey.
The story behind it is a hard one. Hripsime was, by tradition, a Roman Christian woman who fled to Armenia with a group of companions to escape the attentions of the emperor, and was martyred by the pagan king Tiridates around the turn of the fourth century. The church marks her burial place. A few hundred metres away is the second church, Shoghakat, dedicated to others of the group and rebuilt in 1694; the name means ray of light. It is small, plain and lovely, with a worn feel, and a very different mood from the rest of the complex.
Inside Hripsime you step down into a dim, cool space with a vertical sweep of tiny windows, a lit candle, and, beneath the altar, a crypt where the martyr is said to rest. Local visitors come in a steady trickle, often kissing the doorframe, lighting a candle, and leaving without a word. Treat it that way. It also means that photography is best done outside, in the early morning or late afternoon, when the light rakes along the walls and brings out their carved details.
Riding here is easy and gentle: flat, straight roads through the orchards and vineyards of the Ararat plain, light traffic on the side streets, and signposts in the Armenian script that you will learn to read by the second day. Vagharshapat has fuel, small shops, and plenty of places for a thick Armenian coffee, boiled in a little pot and served with the grounds. Come back through town on a Sunday and you might hear the bells and see weddings queueing at the door, with the groom's party honking all the way down the street.