Case file · Apparition / miracle
Gregory in the pit of Khor Virap
Agathangelos' history says King Tiridates III threw Gregory into a deep pit at Artashat (Khor Virap) for refusing to worship the goddess Anahit; after 13 years the king, struck with madness and turned boar-like, was healed by Gregory and made Armenia Christian.
301 CE · 39.88, 44.58 · status: legend
The account
The king's sister Khosrovidukht dreamed that only Gregory could cure him. Armenia's adoption of Christianity is traditionally dated to 301, making it the first Christian state. The pit can still be visited beneath the monastery facing Mount Ararat.
The sceptical view
Agathangelos' text is a 5th-century hagiographical work; the boar transformation is legend.