Vank Cathedral

Another surprise (at least for me) is the presence of a significant Armenian community here. They were brought to Esfahan by an emperor who valued their business and craft acumen. Even today, they have 2 representatives in the Parliament.
They were given their own neighborhood, called Jolfa. This is where they built their cathedral and many other churches. One stipulation put on them was they had to include Islamic and Persian architectural elements. If you compare the 1st 3 pictures to pictures of other Armenian churches, you will see the differences in the dome, arches and more. The next 4 pictures are all inside the cathedral, showing the typical extraordinary art work with which their churches are decorated.
There are 2 museums here, too. The last 4 pictures are a sample. The eighth picture is an overview of one of them. They have ancient manuscripts that were brought from Armenia centuries ago. The 1st printing press in Iran was constructed here. Picture 10 is a later press, and 11 is a more recent printing, about the 18th century.
The last picture is a statue of a bishop whose name I neglected to note.Read more