Julfa

The town of Julfa, home to approximately 15,000 residents, lies on the banks of the Aras River, just 40 kilometers from Nakhchivan. Historically, it was known as the Southern Gateway of the USSR. Interestingly, this name refers to two towns sharing the same name but located on opposite sides of the border river—one in Iran and the other in Azerbaijan. The Julfa border crossing, situated on the Azerbaijani-Iranian frontier, literally splits the town into two halves. Travelers can cross the border on foot or by vehicle. Despite being a busy checkpoint, it rarely experiences significant queues.

Julfa’s roots run deep on both banks of the Aras. The earliest records date back to the 5th century, with the Armenian historian Movses Khorenatsi documenting the settlement. According to his accounts, an Armenian king settled captured Medes in the town. By the 10th to 12th centuries, Julfa had blossomed into a bustling trade hub, predominantly inhabited by Armenians. Silk was the cornerstone of its commerce, making the town a vital node in regional trade.

In many respects, Julfa—known as Djuga in Armenian tradition—served as the last historical capital of Armenia. Following the collapse of Armenian kingdoms and the onset of centuries-long Turkic domination, the Armenian prince was gradually supplanted by the Armenian merchant on this historic stage. With a population of around 20,000, the town at the Aras crossing became a crucial crossroads for East-West trade. Armenians from Resht, Aleppo, and Madras met their counterparts from Constantinople, Theodosia, and Lviv here. The Julfa fair in the 15th and 16th centuries functioned as a silk exchange, where global prices for this precious fabric were set.

However, the Safavid shahs grew increasingly uneasy with Julfa’s prosperity, especially after relocating their capital farther from the Turkish border—from Tabriz first to Qazvin, then to Isfahan. In 1604, after liberating the region from Turkish control, Shah Abbas II initiated the Great Surgun, a massive forced deportation of Armenians from the Ararat and Nakhchivan valleys deep into Iran. Significantly, the Armenian suburb of Isfahan was not named New Ani or Nor Echmiadzin but New Julfa. In the luxurious 17th-century cathedrals of New Julfa, many sacred relics were transferred directly from the original Echmiadzin.

Following the Armenian exile, Julfa diminished into a small village, its economy in decline. By 1819, only seven families remained. At the dawn of the 19th century, the settlement was relocated about three kilometers from the historic town site.

Once, Julfa was home to the largest khachkar cemetery in the world. Tragically, during the 1990s, construction machinery was brought in, and the khachkars were dumped into the river. The area was then converted into a military firing range, rendering it inaccessible from the surrounding region.

In present-day Julfa, Nakhchivan, the town’s main landmark is perhaps the railway station building, where, even now, electric trains from Nakhchivan occasionally arrive.

Another notable landmark in the town is the ruined bridge of Alexander the Great, destroyed in the 16th century—likely during the Persian-Turkish wars. Of course, it earned this grand name more as a tribute to its majesty rather than historical fact. Many bridges spanning the Aras River were constructed in the 12th and 13th centuries by the Atabegs of the Ildegizid dynasty, who moved between their two capitals, Nakhchivan and Tabriz. Yet, by medieval standards, the Julfa bridge was truly monumental. Its main span over the Aras measured an impressive 3 meters in width and a staggering 37 meters in length. It was this very bridge that, it seems, gave rise to the bustling marketplace of Old Julfa.