Nakhichevan-on-Don

The coat of arms of Nakhichevan-on-Don, adopted in 1811, depicts bees and a beehive—symbolizing hardworking Armenians

Nakhichevan-on-Don (Russian: Нахичевань-на-Дону, Naxičevan’-na-Donu), also known as New Nakhichevan (Armenian: Նոր Նախիջևան, Nor Naxiĵevan; as opposed to the "old" Nakhichevan), was a city near Rostov-on-Don, in southern Russia founded in 1779 by Armenians from Crimea. It retained the status of a city until 1928 when it was merged with Rostov.

History

Monument to Catherine the Great and the Gregory the Illuminator cathedral on the city's main square

In the summer of 1778, after the Crimean Khanate was made a Russian vassal state, some 12,600 Armenians of the Crimean peninsula were resettled by General Alexander Suvorov in the Don region. The Russian Empire sought to strengthen Novorossiya, which was vital in completely absorbing the Crimea. Empress Catherine the Great granted some 86,000 ha of land to the Armenians by a November 14, 1779 decree. A third of the Armenians perished en route and during the first winter. The settlement of New Nakhichevan was founded by the survivors. It "rapidly grew into an important town with its own cathedral and seminary."

In 1894 the Armenian community erected the Alexander Column in Nakhichevan-on-Don to celebrate the Emperor Alexander II of Russia.

Around the turn of the twentieth century it was part of the Don Host Oblast. In 1896 it had an estimated population of 32,174, of which 14,618 (45.4%) were native residents and 17,556 (54.6%) were nonresidents. The Armenian Apostolic population was estimated at 18,895 (58.7%), Orthodox at 10,965 (34.1%), others (Jews, Old Believers, Muslims, Catholics, Protestants) at 2,314 (7.1%). According to the 1897 Russian Imperial census the city had a population of 28,427. East Slavic-speakers (Russians, Ukrainians and Belarusians) made up around two-thirds of the population (19,224), while Armenians (8,277) comprised a significant minority (29.1%).

Merger with Rostov and later history

By the late 19th century it was "engulfed by the growth of Rostov". As early as in the 1897 article about the city in the Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary wrote: "Currently, Nakhichevan-on-Don has merged with Rostov so that the boundaries of the two cities can only be determined by a plan approved May 11, 1811." On December 28, 1928, Nor Nakhichevan was officially made part of Rostov. In 1929 Rostov's largest district—Proletarsky raion (Пролетарский район) was established on its location. As of 2001, it amounted to a "kind of Armenian quarter within the city."

Notable people from Nakhichevan-on-Don

• Raphael Patkanian (1830–1892), Armenian writer
• Mikael Nalbandian (1839–1866), Armenian writer
• George VI of Armenia (1868-1954), Catholicos of All Armenians
• Martiros Saryan (1880–1972), Armenian painter
• Simon Vratsian (1882–1969), Prime Minister of the First Republic of Armenia
• Sargis Lukashin (Srabionian) (1883–1937), chairman of the Council of People's Commissars (1922–1925)
• Sergei Galadzhev (1902–1954), Soviet general
• Gevork Vartanian (1924-2012), Soviet intelligence agent
• Alexander Miasnikian, chairman of the Council of People's Commissars (1921–1922) of the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic

See also

• Holy Cross Church, Nakhichevan on Don
• Armenians in Russia
• Myasnikovsky District, a nearby raion (district) with an Armenian majority. It includes several villages that date back to the same period.
• List of Armenian ethnic enclaves