History of the Armenian Catholic community of Nakhijevan

The Armenian Catholic community of Nakhijevan has a long and complex history. According to a paper published on Semantic Scholar, catholism first arrived in the province of Nakhijevan in the 14th century by French and Benedictine religious men.

Nakhijevan was situated at the crossroads of East and West, which allowed for the creation of a great Armenian Catholic community and deep influence on developing economic, political, and cultural links in the region.

By the middle of the 18th century, a part of the Armenian Catholics had moved to the city of Julfa, located on the banks of the Aras River, where they established a new community with its own church.[1]

Additionally, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Nakhchivan, established in 1318 as the Diocese of Nakhijevan, was the only Latin see in the region to survive the ravaging hordes of conqueror Tamerlane in the 1380s, according to the Wikipedia page dedicated to the Archdiocese.[2]

However, the Armenian presence in Nakhchivan has been subject to significant demographic shifts over the years, particularly during the Soviet era, as stated in the Wikipedia page dedicated to Armenians in Nakhchivan.[3]

Today, the historical and cultural heritage of the Armenian community in Nakhijevan is under threat. A year-long investigation into the fate of Armenian cultural heritage in Nakhijevan by the Caucasus Heritage Watch (CHW) concluded that almost all of it had been destroyed. [4]

Vigen Avetisyan

Sources:

1. The role of catholic community in Nakhidjevan in the XVII–XVIII centuries
2. Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Nakhchivan
3. Armenians in Nakhchivan
4. Caucasus Heritage Watch: Azerbaijan is Destroying Armenian Heritage
5. Silent Erasure A Satellite Investigation of the Destruction of Armenian Cultural Heritage in Nakhchivan, Azerbaijan

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