Scientific Journal of Pazhuhesh-e Honar

Throughout the Safavid era, Armenians from various ethnic groups and minorities were in Isfahan and built numerous churches, which a few of them have remained. The Orthodox Christian denomination has certain doctrinal principles and rituals, some of which have influenced the body and architectural arrays of churches. The purpose of this research is comparative comparison and identify the impact and manifestation of these principles and rituals on the spatial structure of architecture and arrays of Orthodox churches in Isfahan and Armenia. The research method is qualitative and is based on descriptive-analytical method between the common Armenian churches and new Julfa churches. The data were collected through library studies in the field of principles of belief and rituals of Christianity, and field studies in the form of direct presence of researchers in the churches of Isfahan, and then have been qualitatively analyzed. The results show that the architecture of the Armenian churches in Isfahan is a combination of Iranian and Armenian architecture. East-west orientation, rectangular geometric shape, spatial hierarchy, having at least one large dome all follow the architecture of Armenian churches. The arched dome, the material, the type of large windows of the domes and the type of minaret are modeled on Iranian architecture. Also, some of the additional extension arrays of Armenian churches, such as rose, clover windows and three-part windows, have been removed. And the arrays that belong to the inside of the church are like murals, and some of these arrays, such as the cuckoo pigeon, the triple domes, the Bible reading table, the cross or crucifix, the window or the images of the sufferings of Jesus Christ and the resurrection of Christ, have been used in the interior of churches. Arrays representing Christian Religions are the arrays of the Devil’s Exit, the Last Supper, the Sanctuary, the Priesthood, and the Porch which can be seen in all churches