Descripción del sitio
This marker is part of an extended History of Islamic Architecture
New Julfa, Isfahan, Iran
Armenian quarter
1606-20th cent.
This part of Isfahan was and still is, though deminished, home to a large Armenian minority who has sad origins, but contributed much to Isfahan's architecture.
1605 Abbas I forcibly moved more than 150 000 Armenias from northwest Iran (Azerbaidjan) into new quarters at Isfahan, which he named New Julfa, after the city where most of them came from. The Armenians were excellent merchants, brought their knowledge of seri-culture with them, and were skilled master builders. It is probably no exaggeration that Shah Abbas I's ambitous urban projects in Isfahan and especially the mosques and medrese of the Safavid period were built by Armenian craftsmen.
In exchange for their services the Armenian community was given privileges which far exceeded those of the contemporary Ottoman Empire. See New Julfa in Wikepedia