Holy Lance
A Holy Lance is conserved in Vagharshapat (previously known as Echmiadzin), the religious capital of Armenia. It was previously held in the monastery of Geghard. The first source that mentions it is a text "Holy Relics of Our Lord Jesus Christ", in a thirteenth-century Armenian manuscript. According to this text, the spear which pierced Jesus was to have been brought to Armenia by the Apostle Thaddeus. The manuscript does not specify precisely where it was kept, but the Holy Lance gives a description that exactly matches the lance, the monastery gate, since the thirteenth century precisely, the name of Geghardavank (Monastery of the Holy Lance).
Spear (liturgy)
The Spear symbolizes the lance of Longinus that was used at the time of Christ's death on the Cross to pierce his side, from which flowed blood and water (). This event is traditionally interpreted as prefiguring the Sacred Mysteries (Sacraments) of the Eucharist and Baptism.