[8] Reduced to a small town by the early 20th century, it experienced large expansion during the Soviet period becoming, effectively, a suburb of Yerevan.

According to Movses Khorenatsi, the area of Vagharshapat was known as Artimed (Արտիմէդ), derived from the ancient Greek deity Artemis.

However, in his first book, Wars of Justinian, the Byzantine historian Procopius refers to the city as Valashabad (Balashabad), named after king Vologases I of Armenia.

Movses Khorenatsi mentioned that the town of Vardges was entirely rebuilt and fenced by King Vagharsh I to become known as Norakaghak (Նորաքաղաք, "New City") and later Vagharshapat.

The first written records about Vagharshapat were found in the inscriptions left by the Urartian king Rusa II (685–645 BC), where it was mentioned as Kuarlini (Կուարլինի).

According to 5th-century writer Movses Khorenatsi, the oldest name of Vagharshapat was Artimed (Արտիմէդ), derived from the ancient Greek deity Artemis.

In the first half of the 2nd century AD, under the reign of the Armenian Arsacid king Vagharsh I of Armenia (117–144), the old town of Vardgesavan was renovated and renamed Vagharshapat (Վաղարշապատ).

In his first book Wars of Justinian, the Byzantine historian Procopius has cited to the city as Valashabad (Balashabad), named after king Valash (Balash) of Armenia.

Movses Khorenatsi mentioned that the Town of Vardges was entirely rebuilt and fenced by king Vagharsh I to become known as Norakaghak (Նորաքաղաք, "New City") and later Vagharshapat.

The city gradually lost its importance under the Persian rule, specifically when the seat of the Catholicosate was transferred to Dvin in 452.

The Armenian Church rejected the Council of Chalcedon (451) because they believed the Chalcedonian christology was too similar to Nestorianism; however, some Armenian bishops who were present in the territories of Roman Armenia signed the Council's documents and also accepted Pope Leo I's 458 encyclical mandating adherence to the Chalcedonian Definition.

[14] Thus, in 491, Catholicos Babken I of Armenia, along with the Albanian and Iberian bishops met in Vagharshapat and issued a condemnation of the Chalcedonian Definition.

During the last quarter of the 14th century the Aq Qoyunlu Sunni Oghuz Turkic tribe took over Armenia, including Vagharshapat.

The influence of Vagharshapat waned between 1045 and 1441, when the seat of the Armenian Catholicosate was transferred from the Cilician city of Sis back to Etchmiadzin.

In 1828, after the Russo-Persian War, Vagharshapat —as a part of the Erivan Khanate— was handed over to the Russian Empire as a result of the Treaty of Turkmenchay signed on 21 February 1828.

In their 1833 book Eli Smith and H. G. O. Dwight described Vagharshapat, then a village, as follows: "It presents nothing but a crowded collection of mud cabins, perhaps 500 in number.

Armenia enjoyed a short period of independence between 1918 and 1920 before falling to the Bolshevik 11th Red Army and becoming part of the Soviet Union.

It is located to the west of Yerevan in the basin of the Kasagh River, in the northeastern extremity of Ararat plain, and very close to Zvartnots International Airport.

[19] Shresh Hill or the Kond of Ghugo, as it was called by the local population, is only 500 metres (1,600 feet) away to the northeast of modern-day Vagharshapat, on the way to Oshakan.

Opened in 1767 by Catholicos Simeon I, the church is located at the centre of Vagharshapat, north of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin.

[21] Here is a population timeline of Vagharshapat since 1830:[22] The Mother Cathedral of Holy Etchmiadzin is found in the complex surrounded with many other structures built throughout the centuries.

Gevorgian Seminary is a theological college of the Armenian Apostolic Church founded by Catholicos Gevork IV in 1874 within the complex of the Mother See.

In 2000, the churches of Vagharshapat, together with the nearby ruin of Zvartnots Cathedral, were designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

[41] The route starts from the station near Echmiadzin State College after Vardges Hamazaspyan and finishes at the end of Mashtots Avenue, near to Matenadaran.

The complex houses a cultural centre with small theatre, pub and jazz club, traditional cuisine, and a boutique hotel.

FC Vagharshapat was the town's only football club, made its debut in the Armenian Premier League as Zvartnots Echmiadzin in 1992.