Vank Cathedral, also known as Amenaperkic, is a church located in Jolfa district of Isfahan. This church is one of the historical Armenians’ churches and was constructed at the time of Shah Abbas II. Vank means Congregational cathedral in Armenian language. Armenians immigrated to Isfahan after the Great Migration, in 1605, upon the order of Shah Abbas II. As they arrived, they began to build a place to live and due to their religious beliefs, building churches was the first step. Vank Cathedral is considered as the largest and most beautiful church in Jolfa. All interior parts of the building are covered with oil paintings and golden decorations displaying images of Christ's life, influenced by Italian paintings. The belfry which is located across from the main entrance, dates back to Shah Sultan Husayn Safavi. The praying room having a parallelogram shape, consists of two parts, the first part is Shabestan, an underground space in traditional mosques, and the second part is under the dome, a place for performing religious anthem and ceremonies. The walls of praying room are covered with delicate multi-colored tiles. In the upper parts of the wall, beautiful pictures, inspired by the holy book, are painted. There are many pictures all around the dome depicting the story of creating Adam and Eve. The altar depicts many images such as an image of Christ as well. The exterior design of the dome is simple without tiled ornament, and it’s just brick work. On a corner of the courtyard, there is a huge elegant bell situated on four stone columns while on another corner, and in front of the bell tower, there is a long column, made in memorial of 1.5 million Armenians who were massacred in 1915. The bell tower consists of three floors and it is located above the entrance. On the second floor of the tower, there is a massive watch weighting over 300 kg. The Vank cathedral has various sections, such as a museum and a library. The Museum of the Church was built in 1905 AD, and exhibits 700 manuscripts, carved stones, paintings by European painters who donated them to the church along with potteries and wooden works such as furniture, watches, candlesticks, and woodcarving boards.
