- An island on Lake Van, it was the seat of the antikatholikos of the Armenian Church. The first to hold this see was the antikatholikos DAVID THORNIKEAN, excommunicated by Patriarch GREGORIO PAHLAVUNI III. In 1895 it ceased to be a patriarchate.
The see of A. had under its jurisdiction the entire diocese of A. (193 churches and 41 monasteries) and that of XIZAN (109 churches and 17 monasteries).
BIBL.: P. L. INGIGIAN, Topografia dell'Armenia antica. Venezia 1822, pp. 172-78 (in Revue des études arméniennes, Paris-Venezia 1940, pp. 154-68.