ASTISHAD. — Ancient city of Armenia, in the province of Durupera, on the Araxes, a tributary of the Euphrates, very famous in pagan antiquity as a sacred city; it was the center of the cults of the deities of pre-Christian Armenia, whence its name: *ašd, šad* “city of reconciliation.” Even in Christian Armenia, A. maintained its preeminent position as a center of the cult of the new true religion; there the first church of Christian Armenia was built through the work of St. Gregory the Illuminator. A. was also renowned for its great sanctuaries.
BIBL.: L. Ingigian, *Topografia dell'Armenia antica*, Venezia 1822, pp. 92-96; S. Eprikian, *Dis. geogr. dell'Armenia*, ibid. 1902, pp. 224-27.