Vank Cathedral

Vank Cathedral not only is the Armenian temple but also is a place to protect the valuable monuments and old manuscripts.

After settling the Armenians in the New Julfa district, they carried out cultural, social, economic, and religious activities to create a humane society. They founded about 13 churches the Vank Cathedral was the first religious building built at that time. The main building was built during the Abbas II of Persia and the Philippus II era.

Vank Cathedral is one of the tourist attractions in the New Julfa district, Isfahan Province. Vank means monastery in the Armenian language. This cathedral is also called as Amenaperkic (Sacred savior church), which refers to the name of a church in Nakhichevan.

• Architecture

  The Vank Cathedral has various sections, including a museum, a library, a printing house, and office buildings. This cathedral has an area of about 9000 square meters with a beautiful site plan. They use Adobe as the material for this building. You face a combination of Islamic and Armenian Architecture in the Vank Cathedral. Following the plan of the Armenian Church with a different style in facade and external features. The principles of Iranian Architecture are evident in the facade without any ornamentation. This architectural style continued until the Qajar era. The dome of the ancient Armenian churches is conical, but there are two large and small domes over Vank Cathedral, which are inspired by the Islamic Architectural style. There is a three-story bell tower above the entrance of this cathedral. Also, you can see a massive clock tower on the second floor.

• Painting

  Before the construction of the Vank Cathedral, you found the interior walls without ornamentation in churches. With a glance at the churches in the Julfa district, especially, Vank Cathedral, what captivates you more than anything else is the marvelous paintings on the interior wall. The Armenian artists of Isfahan, under the influence of Armenian and Iranian art, inspired the European and Italian styles, adorned the walls of the churches of Isfahan with very eye-catching paintings with subjects from the holy Gospel.

• Museum

  The other part of this cathedral is the museum, which is 100 years ago. There are some small rooms on the north side of the courtyard to protect the books, old manuscripts, and historical objects, painting boards, Stucco boards, Golds, and silver. One of the most famous objects in this museum is the hair strand of an 18-year-old girl, which was written a part of Torah by a diamond pen on it.

• What is the best time to go?

  Late March to late May is the best time to visit the Vank Cathedral. Also, it is better to know some information about the visiting time and the payment for it.
   
  • Visiting information
    • Visiting the Vank Cathedral for foreign visitors costs 300,000 IRR.
    • You can visit the Vank Cathedral from 8:30 AM until 6:30 PM.

• Getting there

  You can reach there via private car or public transportation, such as a bus. Pick up the Shohada Square- Gharazi Hospital line. The bus station is located on Hakim Nezami Street. By walking about 5 minutes from the bus station, you can reach the Vank Cathedral.