True facts

 If you thought the days of holy relics was long gone, then Armenia has a surprise for you.

In the mother church of Armenian Orthodox Christianit at Etchmiadzan on the outskirts of Yerevan (established in the fourth century on the site of a pagan temple) there are not one, but three pieces of the True Cross.

While I was not expecting a huge piece of wood, nothing like something that could come in handy as a painting plank, I did expect a decent chunk of timber rather than than the tiny slivers on display. Look closely at the icons and you can see a dark smudge right in the middle - that is the wood.
































But wait there is more! Not only are there three pieces of the Cross, there is also the spear that pieced the side of Christ. They do admit that the cross in the middle was added a bit later, but the information goes to great lengths to explain that there are many bogus spears in the world but this of course is the real one.

 However, Armenians take this very seriously and there is a constant procession to kiss the holy icons.

And we are not finished yet! While the tombs of  martyred saints are common, having the murder weapon is definitely unusual. In the church of St Hripsime lies the tomb of the pious saint who was stoned to death by unbelievers in 301 AD.

Not only are the bones of the saint entombed in the crypt of the church, but also on display are the very stones that were used to kill Hripsime.  Now isn't that amazing!

The remains of the temple on which the church was built are strictly off bounds to visitors.