shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileArmenia

on the Ararat plain, facing the mountain

Khor Virap

Name: Khor Virap — on ceramic tile, by WenderVista
Brand: WenderVista

— — a small hill that watches Mount Ararat.

— Where it lives

Not only on a wall.

A small tile on the nightstand catching the morning. A larger one above the fire. Yours, wherever you spend the slow hours.

— On the nightstand, a 6-inch on a walnut stand

— Among the books, a 6-inch leaning into the spines

— Down a quiet hall, an 18-inch floating off the wall

— Above the fire, the 24-inch in a walnut surround

— a note from the studio

“A monastery on a low hill in the Ararat plain, looking straight at the snow line of the mountain across the closed Turkish border. The pit beneath the church is where Gregory the Illuminator was held thirteen years before Armenia became the first Christian state in 301. Pilgrims still climb down the iron ladder. On a clear morning the mountain feels close enough to touch.

from the studio

— bring it home

Khor Virap, on ceramic.

Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.

What kind of piece?

One tile — square or rectangle.

How big?

the popular one — counter, shelf, nightstand

6 × 6 in · 15 cm · 1.6 lb

Surface finish

A clear glossy finish — the artwork reads as if under resin. Ideal for show-pieces and framed wall art.

How it sits

A hidden cleat — sits ¼″ proud of the wall.

$58

Hand-finished and shipped from our studio at the foot of the Smokies. On your wall in about ten days.

— size

6 × 6 in

15 cm

— weighs

1.6 lb

solid in the hand

— surface

ceramic, hand-finished

art rests beneath a thin glossy finish

— from

Knoxville, TN

our family studio, at the foot of the Smokies

— start a Coaster Set

Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.

— about Khor Virap

The place, in three passes.

A little of what's known, in case you fall down the rabbit hole — or want to go see it yourself.

— the place

Khor Virap stands on a small hill in the Ararat Plain near the village of Pokr Vedi, about 40 kilometres south of Yerevan and a few hundred metres from the closed Armenian-Turkish border. Elevation is roughly 850 metres. The site lies in Armenia's Ararat Province, and the view from the monastery walls takes in the full bulk of Mount Ararat, 5,137 metres, which sits across the border in Türkiye. A road from the M2 highway brings most visitors in under an hour.

— informed by Wikipedia

— the year

The hill carries the memory of the conversion of Armenia. According to tradition, King Tiridates III imprisoned Gregory the Illuminator in a pit on this site for about thirteen years, beginning around 287. After Gregory's release and the king's conversion, Armenia adopted Christianity as its state religion in 301, the first nation to do so. The current Surb Astvatsatsin church was built in 1662 over the older sanctuary; the pit beneath it is reached by a narrow iron ladder about six metres down.

— informed by Wikipedia

— the dawn

The mountain is the reason most pilgrims come at dawn. Ararat sits about 32 kilometres south-west of Khor Virap, often hidden by haze by mid-morning; the cleanest view is in the first two hours of light, especially after a cold front in spring or autumn. The summit cone reads pink against a still-blue sky, then white, then loses itself to the day's heat. The closed border means the mountain is seen only from the Armenian side, a long horizon held at a distance.

— informed by Wikipedia

— where

Armenia · Ararat Province, Armenia

— elevation

850 m · 2,789 ft

— position

39.8783° N · 44.5747° E

— the neighborhood

What's nearby.

A handful of named places within an hour's walk or short drive. Some we've already painted; some we will.

40 km N

Yerevan

national capital

35 km NW

Etchmiadzin Cathedral

mother church of Armenia

32 km SW

Mount Ararat

5,137 m volcanic peak

Khor Virap

Yerevan

Etchmiadzin Cathedral

Mount Ararat

— common questions

What people ask.

A few questions we get about Khor Virap — and about bringing the piece home.

— about the place

In Armenia's Ararat Province, on a low hill near the village of Pokr Vedi, about 40 kilometres south of Yerevan and a few hundred metres from the closed Armenian-Turkish border.

Tradition holds that Gregory the Illuminator was imprisoned here for about thirteen years before converting King Tiridates III. Armenia adopted Christianity as its state religion in 301, the first nation to do so.

Yes. A narrow iron ladder descends about six metres into the chamber beneath the Surb Astvatsatsin church. The space is small and dimly lit; visitors take turns one at a time.

The main church, Surb Astvatsatsin, was built in 1662 on the older foundations of the sanctuary. Earlier chapels on the site date back to the 7th century.

The first two hours after sunrise give the cleanest view, especially after a cold front in spring or autumn. By mid-morning the mountain is often lost to plain haze.

The summit reaches 5,137 metres. It lies about 32 kilometres south-west of Khor Virap, across the closed border in eastern Türkiye.

— about the piece in your home

Khor Virap and Mount Ararat sit close to the centre of Armenian identity. A Small or Medium with a handwritten note from the studio is a thoughtful gift for a family with Armenian or diasporan ties.

Warm-stone interiors, Mediterranean-modern rooms, and homes with Eastern Christian iconography hold it best. The piece carries warm ochres and deep blues that read well against limewash, walnut, and aged leather.

Yes. The shift toward earth-tone palettes (clay, ochre, deep cobalt) fits this composition. Khor Virap reads as quiet rather than ornate.

A single Large covers most sofas. A four-tile Mural gives the plain and mountain the horizon room they want; a nine-tile Mural carries above a longer console.

Yes. Choose the Dura Satin or Matte finish for humid rooms and vertical installations; both resist scratching and hold colour through steam and splash.

A soft microfibre cloth and water are enough. The colour lives in the ceramic surface beneath a thin glossy finish, so it does not lift or fade with normal cleaning.

Yes. Every WenderVista piece is made in one studio in Knoxville, Tennessee, under Reid Wender's eye. Nothing is licensed in from outside.

— if this one stayed with you