Ashtishat[1] (Armenian: Աշտիշատ, romanized: Aštišat) is a locality and archaeological site in Muş Province of eastern Turkey. It is located near the village of Yücetepe on the Murat River east of Lake Van and north of the city of Muş.
  Shown within Turkey | |
| Location | Yücetepe, Muş Province, Turkey |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 38°58′20″N 41°27′04″E / 38.97222°N 41.45111°E / 38.97222; 41.45111 |
In antiquity the village was an important site of early Armenian Christianity. The ruins of several ancient churches and the monastery of Saint Daniel of Gop still occupy the town. The site also hosts the tombs of several early saints and patriotic leaders of the ancient Armenian kingdom.[2]
According to Armenian tradition, Ashtishat was the site of a Hellenistic temple. In the 4th century, Saint Gregory the Illuminator founded a church here. In 364, Gregory's great-grandson Nerses,[3] convened the Council of Ashtishat[4] which established cannon, liturgy, fast days and procedures for classical Armenian Christianity.[5]
Nerses' son, Sahak, founded a monastery in Ashtishat.[2]
Ashtishat was destroyed during the Arab invasion and again by Tamerlane.[2]
However, till the 5th century, whereas the king resided at Valarshapat, the Primate was not there, but far away, at Ashtishat in Tarón, on the Euphrates, in the south of Armenia.