Gateway to Krasnaya Sloboda — the only all-Jewish town outside Israel — and the apple orchards of the Caucasus foothills
Quba is a mountain foothill town in northern Azerbaijan, about 170km north of Baku, notable for two connected reasons: it is the gateway to Krasnaya Sloboda (the 'Red Village'), a settlement directly across the Qudyalçay River that is home to the Mountain Jews (Juhuro) — one of the oldest continuous Jewish communities in the world and the only all-Jewish town outside Israel, with around 4,000 residents, multiple synagogues, a Jewish school, and a distinctly functioning community identity. Quba itself is famous across Azerbaijan for its apple orchards, carpet weaving (particularly Quba rugs, a…
Mountain Jews (Juhuro) are the descendants of Persian-speaking Jewish communities who migrated from Persia to the Caucasus in the 5th–6th centuries CE, predating Islam's arrival in the region. Unlike many Jewish communities in Central Asia and the Caucasus, the Quba Mountain Jews maintained community cohesion through the Soviet period (the synagogues were officially closed but informal practice continued) and experienced a significant revival after 1991. Krasnaya Sloboda (originally called Yevreyskaya Sloboda, 'Jewish Settlement') was formally established in the early 19th century under Russi…