The entrance to the underground pit of St. Gregory. Gregory the Illuminator was imprisoned in 287 AD by King Trdat possibly for teaching Christianity and spent 13 years in the hole accompanied by snakes and scorpions which are abundant in the area. In 301, Trdat had 37 Christian virgins fleeing Roman persecution stoned to death including Hrispime who refused the king's marriage proposal. According to legend, the King went insane after the murders but his sister, who had a dream, convinced him that he would be cured if he released Gregory. He did and Gregory both cured and baptized the king this making Armenia the first Christian kingdom some 80 years before the founding of the Holy Roman/Byzantine empires. However, Armenia was often under rule of many invading powers including the Persians, Byzantines, Mongols and others. The Armenian church is known locally not as orthodox but rather Apostolic reflecting the early teachings in the kingdom by the Apostles Thaddeus and Bartholemew, both who were martyred in Armenia some 60 years after the death of Jesus.