Mount Ararat with the historic Khor Virap monastery visible at center-left

First Christian Nation

On May 26, 451 AD, a Christian Armenian army of roughly 66,000 faced a Sassanid Persian force estimated at 200,000 — including war elephants — on the plain of Avarayr. The Persian Shah Yazdegerd II had demanded that Armenia renounce Christianity and convert to Zoroastrianism. For the Armenians, the battle was not about territory: it was about whether their faith would survive.

Source

Illuminate
Armenia

On May 26, 451 AD, a Christian Armenian army of roughly 66,000 faced a Sassanid Persian force estimated at 200,000 — including war elephants — on the plain of Avarayr. The Persian Shah Yazdegerd II had demanded that Armenia renounce Christianity and convert to Zoroastrianism. For the Armenians, the battle was not about territory: it was about whether their faith would survive. 

1928First Christian Nation