Amenaparkich or Vanak Church is one of the historical Armenian churches in Isfahan and was built during the reign of Shah Abbas II in 1655 AD. The dome of the ancient Armenian churches is conical, but the dome of Vank Church is similar to the dome of Safavid Persian mosques.
This church is unique among Armenian churches in terms of gilding and gilding.
This place has been visited by many famous people. Visitors include the Prince of Sudan in 1933, the Japanese Prince Misaka (1933), the Prime Minister of Germany (1957), the Queen of Denmark and her daughter (1963), and the President of India (1963). They are the Crown Prince of Denmark (1963), the King and Queen of Belgium (1964), the Prince of Spain (1966), the former Secretary-General of the United Nations Kofi Annan (1999) and so on.
This church was registered in 1310 with the number 85 in the list of national monuments of Iran.
Church architecture:
The area of Amena Park Park is 8731 square meters, of which 3857 square meters is the building and the rest of the green space and the Vank Garden. There are two reception rooms on either side of the entrance to the van. At the top of the entrance, the bell tower is built on three floors, on the second floor of which is a large clock weighing three hundred kilograms. On the four sides of the tower, four circular clock plates are installed, the diameter of each plate is 104 cm. The bell tower and its clock were donated to the church by Mardiros Hordanian in 1931.
Unlike the ancient Armenian churches, which are mostly built of stone, the Church of the Assumption is built of raw clay. The outer wall of the church is covered with bricks. The inner wall is covered with plaster, which is painted and decorated. The church has two domes; The small dome is located on the public residence, and the large dome is built on the front of the church altar. The height of the church walls from the courtyard to the roof of the second floor is 11.75 meters.
Although the churches of Isfahan were built by Armenian architects, there are no similarities between them and the churches of Armenia or even the churches of the northern province of Azerbaijan, such as Qarah-e-Kelisa, Haftavan, Zur Zour and St. Stephen.
The Armenian architects of Julfa, Isfahan, created their unique masterpieces by adapting their architectural art to the existing conditions. They built all the churches in terms of religious principles and plan in accordance with the Armenian churches, and in terms of appearance and appearance completely different from the Armenian architectural style and in accordance with the Iranian architectural style, and as a result of this combination created unique buildings that exemplify them. It can not be found anywhere in the world.
Inside the Vank Church and the surrounding walls, all of the oil and gold water paintings are decorated in the Persian style and depict the life of Jesus Christ, which is influenced by Italian painting, and the huge building and clock tower are visible from a distance. . The building has two entrances, the main one being a large wooden door through which people travel.
Different parts of Wank Church:
The church grounds consist of four sections: a printing house, a library, a museum and offices. An explanation of these sections is given below:
Printing house, library, museum
In addition to the church artwork, the items on display at the Vank Church Museum date from the 16th to the 20th centuries.
The most famous thing kept in the Vank Church Museum, which is not without grace, is a hair belonging to an eighteen-year-old girl on whom Vahram Hakopian wrote a sentence from the Torah in Armenian in 1974 with a diamond pen. Is. This work was donated to the museum in 1975 and visitors can see this sentence on the hair with a microscope installed for this purpose.
The smallest Bible in the world and other exquisite and unique works can be seen in this museum.