Vank Cathedral

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  • Address
    Kelisa St, Jolfa

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Lonely Planet review

Built between 1606 and 1655 with the encouragement of the Safavid rulers, Vank Cathedral in Esfahan is the historic focal point of the Armenian church in Iran. The church's exterior is unexciting, but the interior is richly decorated and shows the curious mixture of styles - Islamic tiles and designs alongside Christian imagery - that characterises most churches in Iran. The frescoes are truly magnificent, and sometimes wonderfully gruesome.

The attached Vank Cathedral museum contains, among other things, more than 700 handwritten books and a disturbing display covering the Armenian genocide in Turkey.