Julfa :Important Cultural Center

Julfa :Important Cultural Center

The architecture of New Julfa documents how Armenian Christian traditions were adapted to a Persian Islamic environment. The influence of the official Safavid architecture on the Armenian buildings was balanced by Armenian patrons who employed Armenian craftsmen and artists with a European training and imported artwork from Amsterdam and Venice. New Julfa’s buildings preserve a rich heritage of the applied arts, ranging from the 17th to the 20th centuries.
In the 1660s New Julfa had 24 churches that belonged to the Armenian Apostelic Church, as well as a few other missionary houses and chapels. Today 13 Apostolic churches are still standing. The most important are All Savior’s Cathedral and the churches of the Holy Mother of God, St. George, and St. Bethlehem. The others are St. James, St. Stephen, St. John the Baptist, St. Catherine, St. Nicholas, St. Gregory the Illuminator, St. Sargis, St. Minas, and St. Nerses.
(۱) Ḵᵛāja Avetikʽ financed the erection of All Savior’s Cathedral between 1653 and 1664. All of its interior was adorned with floral stucco decoration and with frescoes, showing scenes from the Old and the New Testaments. The frescoes are the work of Varpet Minas (ca. 1600-70), Yovhannēs Merquz (1635-1715), Tēr-Kirakos, Barseł, and others.
(۲) Parts of St. James’ Church date back to 1606, and it is therefore considered the oldest church of New Julfa. The small church, sometimes called chapel, is located at the entrance to the courtyard of the Church of the Holy Mother of God.
(۳) The construction of the Church of the Holy Mother of God, built in 1613, was also financed by Ḵᵛāja Avetikʽ. Its sumptuous interior decoration combines frescoes, stucco reliefs, and tiles with oil paintings on canvas imported from Venice .
(۴) St. George’s Church in the Pʽokʽr Mēydan quarter is one of New Julfa’s largest and most famous sanctuaries (Carswell, pp. 37-40; Hakhnazarian and Mehrabian, pp. 53-57; see i/PLATE V). Since the construction of the church was financially supported by Ḵᵛāja Nazar, the second mayor of New Julfa (see i, above), it is also known as Ḵᵛāja’s Church. The church is a renowned pilgrimage site, since it houses a few stones from the Holy See in Ēǰmiacin .
(۵) St. Stephen’s Church in the Yakobǰan quarter was built between 1613 and 1614. The construction of the largest church in New Julfa was made possible through the collective efforts of the quarter’s inhabitants.
(۶) The Church of St. John the Baptist in the Čʽarsu quarter was originally dedicated to the Holy Mother of God .But it was rededicated, when its congregation obtained relics of St. John the Baptist, which are kept in a reliquary in the shape of a right hand. The church is therefore also known as the Church of the Holy Hand (Aǰi Žam).
(۷) St. Catherine’s Church and Nunnery are also located in the Čʽarsu quarter, and their 1623 construction was financed by Ḵᵛāja Exiazar. In 1858, the nunnery housed the first New Julfa school for girls , and in 1967, parts of the complex were converted into an orphanage and a home for the elderly.
(۸) St. Bethlehem Church is a magnificent edifice with a huge dome. Its construction was financed by Ḵᵛāja Petros Veliǰaneancʽ (see i, above). It has many frescoes attributed to Varpet Minas, Martiros, and Bogdan Saltanov. In the 1850s the church was on the verge of collapse, and Āqā Elizian ensured its restoration.
(۹) The Church of St. Nicholas the Patriarch is located in the Łaragel quarter and was at first dedicated to the Holy Mother of God. It was built around 1630 through the joint efforts of the quarter’s inhabitants. The church was rededicated to the patriarch, when the congregation was given one of the saint’s relics .
(۱۰) The Church of St. Gregory the Illuminator was built in 1633, in the Pʽokʽr Meydan quarter, and Ḵᵛāja Minas financed its construction .
(۱۱) St. Sargis’ Church was built in 1659, in the Erevan quarter. Donations from the congregation paid for the church building. The few preserved frescoes suggest that its whitewashed walls used to be covered with paintings. Shortly after its construction, the church served for about three decades as the seat of Yovhan Vardapet, a rival to the Primate of New Julfa, and so it is also known as Yovhan’s Monastery.
(۱۲) St. Minas’ Church in the Tabriz quarter was built between 1658 and 1662. Its apse, niches, and pillars are completely covered with frescoes.
The plan of the churches follows that of the church in the Armenian provinces of Gołtan and Yernjak, which today is part of Nakhijevan, in particular the churches in Old Julfa, Agulis, Cʽłna, Bisti, Pʽaraka, Yayji, and Ramis. In general, the domed churches are derived from a central square plan, which is their dominant feature . The walls are built of brick and a mixture of clay and thatch, with a layer of gypsum as the final plaster coating; in Armenia, however, the churches have solid stone walls. A distinct characteristic of the churches of New Julfa is that they integrate into a building complex, thereby appearing more like monasteries than churches. They are surrounded by high, fortified walls, and have cells, community rooms, storehouse, and kitchen. Several entrances connect the complex with different streets, faciliting access to refuge in emergencies and dangerous situations. Some churches have a main sanctuary and an eastern chapel, which is called summer church. This typical feature of New Julfa churches is also found in the Armenian churches built by Julfan merchants in India. All churches had wooden bells ,but today only a single specimen is preserved in St. Catherine’s Nunnery. St. Thomas’ Church was the first sanctuary with a bell, and it was therefore known as the Church-with-a-bell. The interior of Armenian Apostolic churches is not usually well lit, as semi-darkness is considered more appropriate for entering into the presence of God. The interior is simple and austere, and all decoration is concentrated on the facades, but not so in the New Julfa churches. Since the facades of Safavid mosques were lavishly adorned, the church facades in Persia had to be plain by contrast to avoid any impression of a competition between mosques and churches. The New Julfa architects therefore designed church interiors with richly decorated frescoes and tiles to compensate for their bare facades.