Julfa, Armenia
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Julfa ( az, Culfa)), formerly Jugha ( Armenian: Ջուղա, also transliterated as ''Djugha''), is a city and the capital of the
Julfa District Julfa District ( az, Culfa rayonu) is one of the 7 districts of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic of Azerbaijan. The district borders the districts of Ordubad, Babek, Shahbuz, as well as the Syunik Province of Armenia and the East Azerbaijan ...
of the
Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic The Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic ( az, Naxçıvan Muxtar Respublikası, ), is a landlocked exclave of the Republic of Azerbaijan. The region covers Official portal of Nakhchivan Autonomous RepublicNakhchivan Autonomous Republic with a popula ...
of Azerbaijan. Julfa is separated by the Aras River from its namesake, the town of Jolfa on the Iranian side of the border. The two towns are linked by a road bridge and a railway bridge.


History

The city is known as ''Jugha'' ( hy, Ջուղա) in Armenian. The modern-day town of Julfa is located a few kilometers east of the ruins of the historical settlement of Julfa/Jugha, which are situated on a rocky strip of land in between the left bank of the Aras and a steep mountain range.Ghougassian, Vazken S.
JULFA i. SAFAVID PERIOD
” '' Encyclopaedia Iranica'', XV/2, pp. 217–224 and XV/3, pp. 225–231.
The medieval Armenian historian Movses Khorenatsi wrote that Julfa was founded by the king of Armenia, Tigranes, using prisoners he took after defeating the Median king
Astyages Astyages (Median: ; Akkadian: ; Ancient Greek: grc, Αστυαγης, Astuagēs, , romanized: , , romanized: ; la, Astyages, , ; reigned 585–550 BC) was the last king of the Median Empire. The son of Cyaxares; he was dethroned in 550 BC by h ...
( Azhdahak in the Armenian tradition). The 18th-century Armenian Catholicos Lazar I wrote that some of the inhabitants of the medieval Armenian capital of Ani migrated to Julfa after the former's destruction, leading to the misconception that Julfa was founded after the destruction of Ani. Existing as a village in the early Middle Ages, it grew into a town between the 10th and 13th centuries, with a population that was almost entirely Armenian. For a time, Julfa was one of the most important settlements in medieval Armenia. It became prosperous in the 15th and 16th centuries due to the role it played in international trade, as it was located along the ancient trade routes from Persia, the Middle East, South-East Asia, India, to Russia, the Mediterranean, and North-West Europe.Джульфа (город в Нахич. АССР)
Great Soviet Encyclopedia
An English preacher who passed through the town in 1600 estimated its population to be about 10,000 people. Unlike other Armenian cities, Julfa does not seem to have experienced significant hardship before its destruction and the deportation of its population in 1605. In 1603, during the Ottoman-Safavid War (1603–1618), Shah Abbas I of Persia retook Julfa from the Ottoman Empire and was seen as a liberator by its Armenian population. However, Abbas had realized that he was unable to defend the territory along the Aras River from incursions by the Ottomans. His solution was to evacuate the region, undertaking a scorched earth policy to prevent its wealth and population falling into Ottoman hands. In October 1605, the Shah issued an edict declaring that the entire population of Julfa must leave their homes and move deep into the
Persian Empire The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire (; peo, wikt:𐎧𐏁𐏂𐎶, 𐎧𐏁𐏂, , ), also called the First Persian Empire, was an History of Iran#Classical antiquity, ancient Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great in 550 BC. Bas ...
. According to 17th-century chronicler Arakel of Tabriz, the edict stated that they had three days to leave or face being massacred. Another eyewitness,
Augustus Badjetsi Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pri ...
, Bishop of Nakhijevan, wrote: About three thousand families were deported from Julfa, and many drowned while attempting to cross the Aras. After the deportation was completed, the town was destroyed by fire to prevent the inhabitants from returning. The deportees were taken to an area near Esfahan in Persia (now Iran), where a new town, New Julfa, was established. New Julfa is now a district of Esfahan and is the modern-day centre of the
Iranian Armenian Iranian-Armenians ( hy, իրանահայեր ''iranahayer''), also known as Persian-Armenians ( hy, պարսկահայեր ''parskahayer''), are Iranians of Armenian ethnicity who may speak Armenian as their first language. Estimates of thei ...
population in Iran. In 1606, the second deportation was made of inhabitants that had escaped the first deportation. In the 17th century, a small settlement was founded amid the ruins of the destroyed town, which, in 1747, became part of the Iranian Nakhchivan Khanate within Qajar Iran. At the start of the 19th century, this settlement moved to a new location three kilometres to the east of the historical town, at the point where the Alinja River flows into the Aras. Following the Russo-Persian War of 1826–28 and the resulting Treaty of Turkmenchay in 1828, the village of Julfa became the official border crossing between Persia and Russia as the former was forced to cede its last remaining
Caucasian Caucasian may refer to: Anthropology *Anything from the Caucasus region ** ** ** ''Caucasian Exarchate'' (1917–1920), an ecclesiastical exarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church in the Caucasus region * * * Languages * Northwest Caucasian l ...
territories, containing state customs services, a garrison and post office. The town became part of the Armenian oblast from 1840 to 1847, and then part of the Erivan Governorate of the Russian Empire between 1847 and 1917. According to the
Russian Empire Census The first general census of the population of the Russian Empire in 1897 ( pre-reform Russian: ) was the first and only nation-wide census performed in the Russian Empire (the Grand Duchy of Finland was excluded). It recorded demographic data as ...
in 1897 Julfa was a village with a population of 763, of which 751 were Armenians. Following the
Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution that took place in the former Russian Empire which began during the First World War. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and ad ...
, between 1918 and 1920 Julfa was the subject of a territorial dispute between the
Republic of Armenia A republic () is a "state in which power rests with the people or their representatives; specifically a state without a monarchy" and also a "government, or system of government, of such a state." Previously, especially in the 17th and 18th c ...
and the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic. As a result of the Treaty of Kars, it became part of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic under the
Azerbaijan SSR Azerbaijan ( az, Азәрбајҹан, Azərbaycan, italics=no), officially the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic (Azerbaijan SSR; az, Азәрбајҹан Совет Сосиалист Республикасы, Azərbaycan Sovet Sosialist R ...
. The Persian Corridor ran through Julfa during World War II, bringing supplies from other
Allied An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...
nations into the Soviet Union. During the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the status of Nagorno-Karabakh from 1988 to 1994, the remaining Armenian population (which had been slowly declining due to emigration during the Soviet era) was either evacuated or was forcibly deported to Armenia.


Old Julfa and Julfa cemetery

At the beginning of the 20th century, the remains of the medieval settlement included a massive ruined bridge, two large
caravanserai A caravanserai (or caravansary; ) was a roadside inn where travelers ( caravaners) could rest and recover from the day's journey. Caravanserais supported the flow of commerce, information and people across the network of trade routes covering ...
s (one on the Iranian side of the border), the walls of a fortress, and several Armenian churches. The most notable remnant from old Julfa was the town's huge Armenian cemetery, located to the west of the ruined city, on three low hills divided by small valleys. It contained the largest surviving collection of Armenian
khachkar A ''khachkar'', also known as a ''khatchkar'' or Armenian cross-stone ( hy, խաչքար, , խաչ xačʿ "cross" + քար kʿar "stone") is a carved, memorial stele bearing a cross, and often with additional motifs such as rosettes, in ...
tombstones, most dating to the 15th and 16th centuries. One of the earliest references to the site is that of the French Jesuit missionary
Alexander de Rhodes Alexandre de Rhodes (15 March 1593 – 5 November 1660) was an Avignonese Jesuit missionary and lexicographer who had a lasting impact on Christianity in Vietnam. He wrote the ''Dictionarium Annamiticum Lusitanum et Latinum'', the first trilingu ...
, who wrote that during his visit in 1648 he saw over ten thousand tombstones. However, a large number of the stones were destroyed during the construction of the railway line to Julfa early in the 20th century. In the 1970s, according to
Argam Aivazian Argam Ararati Aivazian (sometimes written as Ayvazyan) ( hy, Արգամ Արարատի Այվազյան; born 20 July 1947) is an Armenian historian, journalist and researcher. Born in the village of Arinj in the Nakhichevan ASSR, he is particul ...
's investigations at the cemetery from 1971 to 1973, there were, either upright or fallen, 462 khachkars on the first cemetery hill, 1,672 khachkars on the second, and 573 on the third. In addition to these khachkars, there were in the same cemetery more than a thousand ram-shaped, gabled, or flat tombstones. An additional 250 khachkars were counted in the cemetery of the nearby
Amenaprkich A ''khachkar'', also known as a ''khatchkar'' or Armenian cross-stone ( hy, խաչքար, , խաչ xačʿ "cross" + քար kʿar "stone") is a carved, memorial stele bearing a cross, and often with additional motifs such as rosettes, in ...
monastery and in other parts of the city site. The number of khachkars and ram-shaped tombstones buried in the earth or in fragments, in the main cemetery and elsewhere, was estimated to be more than 1,400.


Destruction

Between 1998 and 2006 the entire cemetery was destroyed. The various stages of the destruction process were documented by photographic and video evidence taken from the Iranian side of the border. However, the government and state officials of Azerbaijan have denied that any destruction has taken place, stating that "an Armenian cemetery never existed on the site and that Armenians have never lived in Julfa". Azerbaijan has, to date, refused to allow investigators access to the site. The European Parliament formally called on Azerbaijan to stop the demolition as a breach of the UNESCO World Heritage Convention. According to its resolution regarding cultural monuments in the South Caucasus, the European Parliament "condemns strongly the destruction of the Julfa cemetery as well as the destruction of all sites of historical importance that has taken place on Armenian or Azerbaijani territory, and condemns any such action that seeks to destroy cultural heritage." In 2006, Azerbaijan barred the European Parliament from inspecting and examining the ancient site, stating that by passing the previously-mentioned resolution the Parliament had committed a hostile act against Azerbaijan. The Institute for War and Peace Reporting reported on April 19, 2006, that "there is nothing left of the celebrated stone crosses of Jugha." After several more postponed visits, a renewed attempt was planned by Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) inspectors for August 29 - September 6, 2007, led by British MP Edward O'Hara. As well as Nakhchivan, the delegation would visit Baku, Yerevan, Tbilisi, and Nagorno Karabakh. The inspectors planned to visit Nagorno Karabakh via Armenia, and had arranged transport to facilitate this. However, on August 28, the head of the Azerbaijani delegation to PACE released a demand that the inspectors must enter Nagorno Karabakh via Azerbaijan. On August 29, PACE Secretary General Mateo Sorinas announced that the visit had to be cancelled because of the difficulty in accessing Nagorno Karabagh using the route required by Azerbaijan. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Armenia issued a statement saying that Azerbaijan had stopped the visit "due solely to their intent to veil the demolition of Armenian monuments in Nakhijevan".Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia, Press Release 29-08-2007.


In culture

The sudden and dramatic downfall of Old Julfa in the 17th century made a deep and lasting impression on Armenian society and culture. During the 19th century, poets such Hovhannes Tumanyan and historians such as
Ghevond Alishan __NOTOC__ Ghevont Alishan () (1820-1901; also spelled Ghevond Alishan, or Leonzio Alishan in Italian or Léonce Alichan in French) was an ordained Armenian Catholic priest, historian and a poet. He was awarded by the Legion of Honour of the French ...
produced works based on the event. The emotions raised as a result of the destruction of the graveyard in 2006 indicates that the fate of Julfa still resonates within contemporary Armenian society.


References


Notes


Citations


Further reading

* Ayvazyan, Argam. ''Ջուղա'' (''Jugha''). Yerevan, Armenian SSR: Sovetakan Grogh, 1984. *Argam Aivazian, ''Nakhijevan: Book of Monuments'' / , Yerevan, 1990. * Baltrušaitis, Jurgis and Dickran Kouymjian. "Julfa on the Arax and Its Funerary Monuments" in ''Études Arméniennes/Armenian Studies In Memoriam Haig Berberian''. Lisbon: Galouste Gulbenkian Foundation, 1986. *Switzerland-Armenia Parliamentary Group, ''The Destruction of Jugha'', Bern, 2006. * *


External links

*
Azerbaijani vandalism against Armenian cultural monuments in Old Julfa
tape on YouTube.
Old Jugha
page on Armeniapedia
Djulfa Virtual Memorial and Museum
Documenting Cultural Destruction in Nakhchivan

by Azeri soldiers captured in photos and movie clips.

giving response of Azerbaijan to reports of the destruction of the cemetery.
IWPR report
by a reporter who did not actually visit the graveyard site.
The New Tears of Araxes
Documents the destruction of thousands of ancient Armenian headstones by the Azerbaijani authorities in Julfa (Jugha), Nakhchivan. {{DEFAULTSORT:Julfa, Azerbaijan (City) Populated places in Julfa District Azerbaijan–Iran border crossings