New Julfa

New Julfa Նոր Ջուղա
Courtyard of the Holy Savior Cathedral, and the Museum of Khachatur Kesaratsi.
Coordinates: 32°38′11″N 51°39′21″E / 32.6363°N 51.6557°E / 32.6363; 51.6557
Country	Iran
City	Isfahan
Counties	Isfahan County
Province	Isfahan Province
Settled	early 17th century

New Julfa (Persian: نو جلفا‎‎ – Now Jolfā, جلفای نو – Jolfā ye Now; Armenian: Նոր Ջուղա – Nor Jugha) is the Armenian quarter of Isfahan, Iran, located along the south bank of the Zayande River.

Established and named after the older city of Julfa (Jugha), Nakhichavan in the early 17th century, it is still one of the oldest and largest Armenian quarters in the world.

New Julfa was established in 1606 as an Armenian quarter by the edict of Shah Abbas I from the Safavid dynasty. Over 150,000 Armenians were moved there from the older Julfa (also known as Jugha or Juła) in Nakhichavan. Iranian sources state that the Armenians came to Iran fleeing the Ottoman Empire's persecution. Nevertheless, historical records indicate that the residents of Julfa were treated well by Shah Abbas in the hopes that their resettlement in Isfahan would be beneficial to Iran due to their knowledge of the silk trade.

In 1947, the famous historian Fernand Braudel wrote that the Armenians had a trade network that stretched from Amsterdam to Manila in the Philippines. Many scholars in Armenia have done pioneering work on this network in the 60s, 70s and 80s. Levon Khachikian and Sushanik Khachikian have edited and published several New Julfan account books. Over the next few centuries, New Julfa became the hub of "one of the greatest trade networks of the early modern era," with outposts as far east as Canton, Surabaya, and Manila, and as far west as Cadiz, London, and Amsterdam, with a few merchants traveling across the Atlantic or Pacific oceans to Acapulco or Mexico City.