Karabakh's Cult Architecture
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Karabakh Vilayat KaRIMOV Doctor of Architecture Karabakh’s cult architecture The Ganjasar monastery (Agdara District) THE arcHITECTURAL HERITagE OF AZErbaiJAN, INCLUDING KarabakH, Has BECOME ONE OF THE MEMORY FORMS OF ITS AUTOCHTHONS. THANKS TO THIS THE COUNTRY’S arcHITECTURE PERMANENTLY EXPANDS THE VALUES SOCIETY POssEssES as A SOCIAL OrgaNISM. MONUMENTS OF AZErbaiJAN’S MATERIAL CULTURE ARE AN ILLUSTRATION OF THE facT THAT GREAT arcHITECTURAL masTERPIECES ARE NOT SO MUCH THE RESULT OF INDIVIDUAL WORK as THEY ARE A PRODUCT OF THE ENTIRE SOCIETY, THE RESULT OF CREATIVE EFFORTS OF A WHOLE PEOPLE. he Karabakh architecture de- The exceptionally favorable work in ancient cities. Various natu- serves special mention. While natural and geographic conditions ral rocks and clay led to the devel- Treviewing the development of of Karabakh preconditioned the opment and spread of a number of architecture in this historical region development of farming and cattle construction methods and architec- of Azerbaijan, we should point to breeding. Numerous settlements tural forms, which played a major the fact that it covered a large area. were established here which even- role in the subsequent develop- Karabakh’s ancient land was a tually transformed into large and ment of construction art. center of civilization not only for well-fortified cities linked to many Karabakh’s architectural monu- Azerbaijan, but also for the entire countries of the East and West by ments, partially preserved or lying Caucasus and beyond. The archi- caravan roads. The natural wealth in ruins, represent invaluable factual tecture of a significant artistic of the Karabakh land and the abun- evidence of people’s rock chroni- and historical value evolved here dance of construction materials cles. These monuments provide the for millennia. facilitated extensive landscaping opportunity for ascertaining the 8 www.irs-az.com The Agoglan Alban monastery (Lachin District) peculiarities and specificity of con- tion, L., 1926, Vol. 16, part 2). Sub- architecture and the cultural identi- struction methods and techniques, sequent researches fully confirmed ty of the settled agricultural society compositional solutions, architec- both the general conclusions of the which evolved in the 5th-3rd centu- tural forms, thus establishing the scholar and his separation of specific ries BC. identity of Karabakh’s architecture early agricultural centers (G. Mellart, Karabakh’s Neolithic monu- and its place in the history of Azer- Ancient civilizations of the Middle ments have a lot in common and baijani architecture. East, M., 1982). perhaps even the same roots with Back at the dawn of the of the The appearance of long-term Northern Mesopotamia. 20th century Academician N. Vavilov resident settlements may be viewed The architectural and archaeo- characterized the spread of ancient as a beginning of human architec- logical researches of Ilanlitepe, Cha- centers of cultivated plants and es- tural and construction activities lagantepe and Kamiltepe (Agdam tablished their role in the history based on consistent organization District) settlements of Karabakh of mankind. In essence, N. Vavilov of the habitat, reasonable and task- have revealed stratified occupa- wrote, only a narrow strip of land specific use of construction materi- tion layers, which has significantly played an enormous part in the als and structures. enriched the database for studying development of mankind. The Ancient settlements emerged in the Neolithic culture of Azerbaijan. territory of historical Azerbaijan Karabakh in the Neolithic era. The These settlements are evidence of is one of such centers (V. Vavilov, discovery and interpretation of an- the great skill with which ancient Origin centers of cultivated plants. cient settlements shed light on the architects and construction workers Works on applied botany and selec- earlier stages in the development of erected their buildings. www.irs-az.com 9 Karabakh The Khudavank monastery (Kalbajar District) Karabakh’s first settlements did socioeconomic transformation that for the period under examination. not have defense fortifications. Such dramatically changed people’s life- The presence of raw blocks on the settlements were inhabited not by style. The materials used in Bronze ground floors of buildings is evi- farmers but by hunters. However, in Age architecture point to the ex- dence of the socioeconomic situa- the period of transition from Neo- panding relations between tribes tion and the high level of culture in lithic to the Bronze ages fortified and frequent military stand-offs. the Bronze epoch (V. Kerimov, Azer- settlements started emerging in Wars, as well as cattle-breeding baijan’s defense structures, Baku, Karabakh: Garakepektepe (Fizuli Dis- and farming, became key activi- 1998). trict) and Uzerliktepe (Agdam Dis- ties and occupations for ancient Of the fortresses discovered trict) (M. Useynov, L. Bretaninskiy, A. tribes inhabiting Karabakh. This in Karabakh, particularly remark- Salamzade, History of Azerbaijani Ar- is confirmed by the remains of de- able have been Aladag, Galali and chitecture, M., 1963; O. Abibullayev, fensive structures around the settle- Galatepe. They are attributed to the Studying the Kultepe Hill, Works of ments which quite often represent- 1st millennium BC (Gubatli District). the Institute of History and Philoso- ed formidable forts, e.g. settlements These are neck-shaped fortresses phy of the Azerbaijan Academy of near the village of Khojali attributed that became more diverse in subse- Sciences, Vol. 9; V. Kerimov, Early Ag- to the 2nd millennium BC. quent periods. An overview of the ricultural Architecture on the terri- Monuments of Karabakh’s defen- development of design techniques tory of Azerbaijan, Baku, 1989). sive architecture suggest that such shows that the evolution of such A cluster of houses was sur- structures were strategically located techniques was preconditioned rounded by a fortress wall. This is in places of troop concentrations to not so much by the diversity of so- evidence of strong cultural and eco- prevent enemy incursions. cial conditions but by the changes nomic relations of local tribes with Uzerliktepe (Agdam District), a brought about by the overall de- countries of the Middle East in the structure dating back to the 2nd cen- velopment of the military and engi- Bronze and early Iron ages. tury BC, is one of Karabakh’s earliest neering art. The start of the Bronze Age in Bronze Age monuments. It fact, it In the late 1st millennium BC, Azerbaijan was marked by major can serve as a reference standard Azerbaijan experienced a transi- 10 www.irs-az.com tion from archaic architectural defensive construction art. they established their own residen- forms that used to express the The data on Karabakh’s archi- cies. Thus, a new fort city of Shu- ideas of despotic Eastern states tecture, as well as observations and sha became the capital of the to new ideological concepts of conclusions made, provide a much Karabakh khanate (V. Potto, Monu- “Hellenistic powers”. New town- broader picture of Azerbaijan’s ments of the time when Russian rule planning techniques were ob- medieval architecture. This is also was established in the Caucasus, served now. The Hellenistic period important from the standpoint of First Edition, Tiflis, 1906; E. Avalov, includes the Shergala settlement studying the history of the country’s The Architecture of Shusha, Baku, (1st century BC – 1st century AD) and town-planning traditions. 1977; The History of Azerbaijan, vol. the Partav fortress (3rd century AD) A peculiar combination of tra- 1, Baku, 1958). The appearance of in Barda District. Town-planning tra- ditional and newly-created archi- Shusha is closely associated with ditions of Karabakh’s defensive ar- tectural forms is manifested in the the military and political situation in chitecture of the Hellenistic period 12th century Gulistan (Goranboy Dis- Azerbaijan in the mid-18th century. It carried on living in the feudal era as trict) and 11-12th century Giz Galasi was built by the founder of the Kara- well. Also developed in Azerbaijan fortresses (Jabrayil District). This is bakh khanate, Panah Khan, as an were the main principles of fortifi- where ancient traditions of local ar- unassailable fortress on a mountain. cation architecture that formed the chitecture are combined with new The almost vertical rocks served as basis of architecture in subsequent boundaries of the fortress on three centuries. sides. Written sources and archaeologi- The fortress planning was carried cal materials point to the develop- out in two stages. The foundation of ment of cities as centers of craft and the fortress was designed at the first trade in this period. Particularly ac- stage, while during the second, the tive in Karabakh in this respect were construction was moved from the Barda (Partav), Amaras, Khanakert relatively quiet eastern section to (Khunarakent), Paytarakan and Beyl- the west which had a much rougher agan. The development of these cit- terrain. Most of the construction ac- ies was marred by a fierce struggle tivities commenced under the rule against foreign invaders, first of all of the son of Panah Khan, Ibrahim- the Byzantine Empire, Iran and Khaz- Khalil Khan (1760-1806), who forti- aria. After the fall of Kabala fol- fied the walls of the Shusha fortress. lowing a Khazar invasion, Barda It is worth indicating that the As- (Partav) became the center of the keran fortress was erected by Ibra- Caucasian Albania (G. Ahmedov, him Khan’s brother, Mehrali Khan The medieval city of Beylakan, Baku, (Ahmed-bek Javanshir, The History 1979; K. Mamedzade, Azerbaijan’s types of structures in response to of the Karabakh khanate, Baku, 1961; construction art, Baku, 1983). new requirements of society. P. Zubov, The Historical Caucasus First a residency of Sassanid Twenty independent khanates novel. A Karabakh astrologist or the governors and then of the Alban emerged in Azerbaijan in the mid- establishment of the Shusha for- Catholicos and prince, the city of dle of the 18th century, including tress, St. Petersburg, 1834; V. Dorn, Partav became the residency of the khanates of Baku, Shirvan, Guba, The Caspian, St.