The Armenians Themselves Burnt Their Own Houses and Desecrated Their Own Churches. Luigi Villari’s Nakhichevan in 1905

Luigi Villari’s book Fire and Sword in the Caucasus, published in London in 1906, is widely quoted by the scholars who study the history of South Caucasus at the time of the first Russian Revolution in 1905. After a short introduction about the interest- ing figure of this author, the first part of the article will take into consideration Villari’s peculiar attitude toward the Armenians. The larger part of the article will consider his first-hand description of the massacres perpetrated by the Azeris (Tartars) in the region of Nakhichevan. As a matter of fact, Luigi Villari’s testimony of the tragic events of 1905 is more interesting than ever to understand the origins of a contrast that continues— even if in a deeply different situation—to stain with blood the relationship between Armenians and the South Caucasian Turks.