The Yererouk Basilica is a 4th and 5th century early Armenian church

Armenian architecture

Armenian architecture is an architectural style developed over the last 4,500 years of human habitation in the Armenian Highland and used principally by the Armenian people.- Common characteristics of Armenian architecture:...

 in the town of Anipemza

Anipemza

Anipemza is a village and rural community in the Shirak Province of Armenia. The National Statistical Service of the Republic of Armenia reported its population was 523 in 2010, up from 349 at the 2001 census....

 in the Shirak Province of Armenia

Armenia

Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...

, only 8 km southeast of the ancient Armenian capital of Ani

Ani

Ani is a ruined and uninhabited medieval Armenian city-site situated in the Turkish province of Kars, near the border with Armenia. It was once the capital of a medieval Armenian kingdom that covered much of present day Armenia and eastern Turkey...

.

Because the basilica

Basilica

The Latin word basilica , was originally used to describe a Roman public building, usually located in the forum of a Roman town. Public basilicas began to appear in Hellenistic cities in the 2nd century BC.The term was also applied to buildings used for religious purposes...

 of Yererouk is one of the earliest Christian monuments in Armenia, it was added to the UNESCO

UNESCO

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...

 World Heritage Tentative List on August 25th, 1995 in the Cultural category. The basilica is believed to be from the 5th century — maybe late 4th century — and state of preservation is poor.

External links

• Armenian Architectural Studies
• The World Heritage Newsletter, No. 11, June 1996 Published by The World Heritage Center, UNESCO, Retrieved on 2009-02-19.
• Rensselaer Digital Collections: Photos of Yererouk