Vank cathedral

Vank cathedral or the The Holy Savior cathedral is not only a church of amazing paintings and architecture but also a unique museum of precious artistic works. It is located in Julfa quarter of Isfahan with the area of plus 8700 sq.m. During 1604 to 1606, The Armenians of Iran living at the northwest borders were settled in Isfahan (Julfa quarter) as the result this church was set up for them. The church was small so it was destroyed and reconstructed in 1655 by mayor David.

The interior architecture of Vank Cathedral is Armenian whereas the exterior is Iranian with a dome ceiling. The whole structure is made of bricks and adobes. All the interior walls an ceilings is plastered and pictures of different topics of Bible are painted on them. The artist of these paintings are master Minas, priest Estephanus and Hohanes Mercuz.

The tombs of Khachatur Gisaretsi (pioneer of printing industry in Iran) and mayor David are at the scene of the church. The bell tower was constructed in 1716 by Hohanjanian Jamalian with total height of 10.5 meter. There is also an old printing house next to the church founded by Khachatur Gisaretsi.

The museum was established in 1905 by Tatavous Honanian in 2 storeys with about 850 artistic objects and 710 manuscripts. The objects consist of amazing plastered portraits and paint works of Armenian and European artists, jewelries and precious metal objects, fabric craftsmanship, ceramics and potteries, wooden arts, coins and many other beautiful objects.

Every year thousands of tourists come to visit Vank cathedral, a christian church in a Muslim country.