| Catholicosate of the Great House of Cilicia (Holy See of Cilicia) |
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 The coat of arms of the Catholicosate of the Great House of Cilicia |
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| Founder | The Apostles Bartholomew and Thaddeus |
| Independence | Apostolic Era |
| Recognition | Armenian Apostolic Church |
| Primate | Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia, Aram I. |
| Headquarters | Antelias, Lebanon previously Kozan, Adana |
| Territory | Cilicia & Western Armenia |
| Possessions | Middle East, Europe, North America, South America, Oceania,and Africa. |
| Language | Armenian |
| Adherents | 4,000,000 |
| Website | Armenian Catholicosate of the Great House of Cilicia |
| Saint Gregory the Illuminator Cathedral Սուրբ Գրիգոր Լուսաւորիչ մայր տաճար |
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Saint Gregory the Illuminator Cathedral in the Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia |
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 Shown within Lebanon
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| Basic information | |
| Location | Antelias,  Lebanon |
| Geographic coordinates | 35°35′07″E 35°35′07″E |
| Affiliation | Armenian Apostolic Church |
| Ecclesiastical or organizational status | Cathedral |
| Status | Active |
| Architectural description | |
| Architectural style | Armenian |
| Completed | 1940 |
The Holy See of Cilicia (officially known as "the Armenian Catholicosate of the Great House of Cilicia" (Armenian: Կաթողիկոսութիւն Հայոց Մեծի Տանն Կիլիկիոյ) is one of two sees of the Armenian Apostolic Church. Since 1930, the Catholicosate of the Holy See of Cilicia has been headquartered in Antelias, Lebanon. Aram I has been Catholicos of Cilicia of the Armenian Apostolic Church since 1995.
The origin of the Armenian Church dates back to the Apostolic age and according to the ancient tradition was established by St. Thaddeus and St. Bartholomew. In 301 AD, Christianity was officially accepted by the Armenians as the state religion.
St. Gregory the Illuminator, the patron Saint of the Armenian Apostolic Church, and King Tiridates III of Armenia, the ruler of the time, played a pivotal role in the official Christianization of Armenia. St. Gregory the Illuminator became the organizer of the Armenian Church hierarchy. From that time, the heads of the Armenian Church have been called Catholicos and still hold the same title. St. Gregory chose as the site of the Catholicosate then the capital city of Vagharshapat, in Armenia. He built the pontifical residence next to the church called "Holy Mother of God" (which in recent times would take on the name of St. Etchmiadzin).
In 485 AD, the Catholicosate was transferred to the new capital Dvin. In the 10th century it moved from Dvin to Dzoravank and then to Aghtamar (927 AD), to Arghina (947 AD) and to Ani (992 AD).
After the fall of Ani and the Armenian Kingdom of Bagradits in 1045, masses of Armenians migrated to Cilicia. The Catholicosate, together with the people, settled there. The seat of the church (now known as The Catholicosate of the Great House of Cilicia) was first established in Sivas (1058 AD) moving to Tavbloor (1062 AD), then to Dzamendav (1066 AD), Dzovk (1116 AD), Hromgla (1149 AD), and finally in Sis (1293), the capital of the Cilician Kingdom.
After the fall of the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia, in 1375, the Church also assumed the role of national leadership, and the Catholicos was recognized as Ethnarch (Head of Nation). This national responsibility considerably broadened the scope of the Church's mission.
In 1441, a new Catholicos was elected in St. Etchmiadzin in the person of Kirakos I Virapetsi of Armenia. At the same time residing Catholicos in Sis Gregory IX Mousabegian (1439–1446) remained as Catholicos of Cilicia. Therefore, since 1441, there have been two Catholicosates in the Armenian Apostolic Church with the primacy of honor of the Catholicosate of Etchmiadzin recognized by the Catholicosate of Cilicia. The Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians resides at the Holy Etchmiadzin.
The city of Sis (modern-day Kozan, Adana, Turkey) was the center of the Catholicosate of the Great House of Cilicia for more than six centuries starting 1293, when the Catholicosate moved from Hromgla to Sis. During the Armenian Genocide, in 1915, the Armenian population and the monastery of St. Sophia of Sis, home of the Catholicosate (which dominated the town in early 20th-century photographs) was destroyed. The last residing Catholicos in Sis was Sahak II of Cilicia (Catholicos from 1902 to 1939). Sahak II followed his Armenian flock in exile from Turkey.
Sahak II after leaving the premises of the Catholicosate in Sis stayed at various locations in Northern Syria and in Lebanon, running the affairs of the Catholicosate.
Tha ailing Catholicos who served until 1939 was aided in his later years by Papken I of Cilicia who served as Coadjutor for the Catholicos from 1931-1936. Both clergy decided to acquire a plot of land in Antelias, Lebanon, to build there the new center of the Catholicosate.
By donations from Simon and Mathilde Kayekjian, the property of the Catholicosate was purchased from the American Committee for Relief in the Near East. The latter charity which 1922-1928 had been running an Armenian orphanage on that same plot of land from 1922 to 1928. It was only natural that the Catholicosate would consider that spacious plot to build the new Catholicosate on.
The main cathedral called St. Gregory the Illuminator Cathedral was built through the donation of an unknown benefactor, whose name was kept a secret until his death according to his wishes. His name, Sarkis Kenadjian, was revealed only after his death.
A chapel in memory of the one and a half million Armenian martyrs was built, followed by a residence for the Catholicos (called Veharan) and a new Seminary building, constructed one after the other. The chapel was built after the donation of Armenian-Cypriot benefactor and art collector Vahram Utidjian, the son of the famous official translator for the British Apisoghom Utidjian. Catholicos Sahag II died in 1939. However the Museum is a much later development and built and inaugurated in 1997.
The complex of the Catholicosate of the Great House of Cilicia (in Antelias, Lebanon) includes:
The Catholicosate complex also includes the mausoleum / cemetery where a number of the heads of the Catholicosate of the Great House of Cilicia are buried. For a certain period, the Catholicosate also hosted an elementary Armenian school within the Catholicosate complex but the school was moved to a new location a few kilometers away due to the expanding number of students and grade levels and the need for additional classroom space.
A theological seminary is located in the nearby mountains in Bikfaya that also serves as summer residence for the Catholicos and the clergy.
The Catholicossate has its own publishing house and has a number of publications, most notably the monthly "Hask" (in Armenian Հասկ), the official organ of the Holy See of Cilicia.
The Catholicoastae publishes also a great number of books in Armenian and other languages mainly in church literature as well as Armenian historical, cultural and literary subjects and series/collections of important Armenian literature.
The Holy See of Cilicia also organizes an annual book fair on the occasion of Feast of the Holy Translators (known also as Surb Tarkmantchats), an official holiday on the calendar of the Armenian Apostolic Church to commemorate the legacy of the translators of the Bible and other Christian religious books to Armenian language in the 5th century.
It also publishes the annual "Hask Armenological Review" (in Armenian Հասկ Հայագիտական Հանդէս) on Armenian studies
(in parenthesis, the residence of the Prelate / Archbishop / Bishop)
The Holy See of Cilicia is located in Antelias, Matn District at 35°35′7.18″E (33.918275, 35.585328), on a large plot overlooking the Beirut - Tripoli highway and the Mediterranean Sea.
A khatchkar on the premises
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