The Cathedral of Mren is a 7th-century
Armenian church in an abandoned medieval town site called Mren. It is located in the Kars region of
Turkey, near the border with
Armenia, about 1.5 km west of the
Akhurian River.
Architecture
The church of Mren is a domed triple-nave
basilica, believed, on the basis of an inscription on its west facade and on stylistic features, to have been built 631–639. It was built by
David Saharuni, an Armenian ally of the emperor
Heraclius, to celebrate the latter's entry into Jerusalem in 628.