According to legend, in 288 AD, King Tridat III imprisoned Gregory the Illuminator in a cave on a small hill in the middle of the Arax Valley plain and held him captive there for 13 years in an attempt to dissuade him from the Christian faith. Since torture failed to subdue Gregory, and Gregory cured the king of a disfiguring skin disease that was considered incurable, Tridat III had himself baptized with his family and court in 301 and decreed that the Armenians—the first people in history—adopt Christianity as their state religion.