Also known as: Church of Abadan, St. Karapet Armenian Church, Surp Garapet Church, St Karapet Armenian Apostolic Church

This church located next to Masjid Musa-ibn-Jafar, one of the oldest mosques of Abadan.

Approximately 2000 Christian families lived in Abadan in 1356 SH who came to the church in order to hold their religious ceremonies. About half of this building was ruined during the years of Iran-Iraq imposed war. Although most of Armenians and Christians had left the city because of the war, the building was later reconstructed and reopened in the presence of Archbishop of the Armenians of the south of Iran and Isfahan.

The treasurer of Surp Karapet Church is Sufi Karvazian, of the old and famous families of Manukian. According to the inscription the word “Karapet” means “The Messenger of Glad Tidings”. The beautiful design around the church, the round columns and bronze conical-shaped domes of the church add to its magnificence and contribute to the beauty of Abadan.

The church has white walls and four brown wooden doors with two relief cross on each one. The church has two domes made of Aluminum; the larger dome is placed on the central structure of the church and the smaller dome is on the posterior part of the church, in front of Miansara.

Close to the southern gate of the church there is epigraphy along with the painting of an Armenian mother and her killed child that is the reminiscence of Armenian Genocide by Ottoman Empire during the World War I. A sentence on the painting says: “everywhere we are … we will not forget you”.

The rectangular hall of the church is decorated in columns, chandeliers, navy blue and red curtains, wooden benches, picture frames and wall carpets with Christian motifs.

The hall has fourteen semicircular windows held by external cross fences. The hall also includes the part of candle-lit, Meron cup, the holy oil of Armenia’s Etchmiadzin Cathedral and a notebook. The alter is semicircular with four columns built about seven stairs upper than the ground level.  A large tableau of Jesus Christ is placed between two columns of the alter around which there are two golden candlesticks. There are two wooden doors on two sides of the alter for the priest and the choir group.