Vank church
Vank Church or Holy Redeemer Church (Amina Perkij) is the name of a church in Jolfa neighborhood (Isfahan), which is derived from the name of "Sorp Amna Perkich Vank" church in Jogha in Nakhchivan. This church is one of the historical churches of the Armenians of Isfahan and was built during the time of Shah Abbas II. Vank means monastery in Armenian. This historical monument is located on Julfa Street
Church architecture
The area of Amna Perkij Church is 8731 square meters, of which 3857 square meters is the building and the rest is the green space and Vank garden. Two rooms have been built on both sides of the entrance to the vanak for reception. Above the entrance, the bell tower is built on three floors, on the second floor of which there is a big clock weighing three hundred kilograms. On the four sides of the tower, four circular clock faces are installed, the diameter of each face is 104 cm. This bell tower and its clock were gifted to the church by Mardiros Hordananian in 1931. On the right side of the entrance to the vank, an inscription measuring 40 x 53 cm is installed with marble. The text of the inscription is as follows:
"This tower and its clock were built and gifted by Mardiros Goverg Hordananian in 1931 in memory of his late brother who died in 1924."
Amna Parkej Church is built with raw clay, unlike the old Armenian churches that are mostly built with stone. The outer wall of the church is covered with bricks and the inner wall is covered with plaster which is painted and decorated. The church has two domes; The small dome is located on the common people's place, and the big dome is built on the front part of the altar of the church. The height of the walls of the church from the level of the courtyard to the roof of the second floor is 75.11 meters. Inside the church, at a distance of 25.6 meters from its western wall, two square columns have been built, each side of which is two meters. In the western part of the church, using part of these columns and the foundations of the side walls, they built four tall arches; The height of these arches is 25.10 meters. The small dome of the church, which is not very high, is located on these arches.
The dome of ancient Armenian churches is cone-shaped, but the dome of Vank Church is made similar to the dome of Iranian Safavid era mosques. On the roof of the church, in the upper part of the entrance door between the western wall and the edge of the small dome of the church, in a square-like area, a small bell tower is built, which is the second bell tower of the church. Each side of this square is 2.75 meters. At the intersection of both sides of the said square, a brick column has been built; The height of these columns is three meters and at their height of 2.5 meters, both columns are connected to each other by a wooden beam. From the upper part of the said beams, both columns are connected to each other with a trestle arch. The boundary between the trestles and the columns is covered with bricks.
Church mural
All the walls, arches, dome collar, inside the dome and all corners of the church are painted and decorated with oil paint. Most of the murals in the church have themes from the Holy Bible and images from the birth to the ascension of Jesus Christ are imprinted on them. On a part of the walls of the church, the Day of Resurrection, the judgment of the Day of Resurrection and heaven and hell can be seen. The cost of all the decorations, paintings, and gilding of the church was borne and provided by a person named Khwaje "Audik Stepanos". The painters of these pictures were all Armenian masters, including the Caliph "Hovhans-e-Mortz" and "Priest Stepanos" and "Master of Minas" can be mentioned.
This church is unique among Armenian churches in terms of gilding and gilding. "Khwaje Udik" has made a significant contribution in decorating and painting the walls of the church. An inscription as follows is installed on the north wall inside the church.
