Armenian Isfahan, 400 years of cohabitation

Wednesday, April 11 at 19:00 exhibition-conference at the Town Hall of Issy-les-Moulineaux: Reservation required http://issy.com/rdv or 01 41 23 80 00

At the beginning of the 17th century, the Safavid and Ottoman Empires disputed the regions of Nakhichevan and Armenia, in the present Caucasus. Djolfa was an Armenian district of Nakhichevan, which by its geographical location in the Caucasus and its many commercial activities, played a key role in the economic relations between East and West. When Abbas I enters Djolfa, he is welcomed by the Armenian community as a liberator of the Ottoman yoke. However, he decided to move and install the Armenian community of Djolfa in his own capital, Isfahan. By depopulating the Nakhichevan, Abbas I intends to cut the supply of Ottoman armies, while benefiting from the Armenian commercial know-how for the development of his kingdom. Thus begins the story of the “new Djolfa”.

The “Djolfa of Isfahan” is the only legacy left to us of the brilliant history of traders, craftsmen and artists of Nakhichevan. The cultural, religious and commercial freedom granted to the Armenians, installed in the south of the city, allowed them to build their new city with sumptuousness and in conformity with their tastes, while cohabiting peacefully with the already existing society. The key example of this collaboration is the introduction of printing in Iran, and then in the Middle East, which was made for the first time with the archbishop of Vank, Khachator Gsaratsi.

The new Djolfa has developed so much from a cultural, industrial and scientific point of view, that it is often compared to a sun whose rays shine throughout the world. Members of the Armenian community of Djolfa have settled in different countries and played important roles there. Today, Djolfa pursues her prosperous life thanks to her churches, schools, her artistic dynamism, as well as her ancient heritage. By developing tourism and international relations, it has emerged as the mainstay of Isfahan’s tourism and cultural development.

As part of the event of the Cultural Week of Isfahan, the Franco-Iranian Council, in partnership with the city of Issy-les-Moulineaux and the Committee of Twinning of Issy, invites you to this conference with guests of honor:
Argin Abnousian
Gergic Abramian

Argin Abnousian is a teacher researcher in the history of Djolfa, born in 1995 in an Armenian family in Tehran. Passionate about Djolfa, he was the tour guide from an early age, he organizes programs and seminars to raise awareness of the neighborhood and its churches, while writing for journals and newspapers, both Iranian and Armenian. Since 2017, he is the secretary of the Armenian deputy of southern Iran in the Legislative Assembly of the country.

Gergic Abramian is the deputy of the Armenian community, from Isfahan and the southern part of Iran, to the Iranian parliament.