Cemetery :: ARTSAKH HISTORICAL MONUMENTS

Cemetery

Azerbaijan / Northern Artsakh / Khanlar / Getashen

Location

The cemetery extends at the north-western extremity of the village, in a large plain slanting eastward and surrounded by rocks on both sides. The area dominates its neighbourhood, enjoying a position higher than the local quarters.

Karapetian, Samvel. Northern Artsakh, Yerevan, 2007, pp. 371-372.

Historical Introduction

Getashen’s large cemetery, where the earliest graves trace as far back as the 8th to 9th centuries, is of immense historical significance. The study of the surviving khachkars and tombstones of later periods proves that the Armenian-populated village of Getashen existed for at least 1,200 years.

Karapetian, Samvel. Northern Artsakh, Yerevan, 2007, p. 371.

The eastern part of the cemetery mostly comprises the earliest graves, the oldest dated memorial representing a cross-stone of 1173. The local khachkars and tombstones many of which are engraved with epitaphs are of great artistic value.

Karapetian, Samvel. Northern Artsakh, Yerevan, 2007, p. 372.

1980 y․

In the 1980s, we collected about 30 epitaphs carved as early as the 12th to 18th centuries. Those tracing back to the 19th to 20th centuries form a huge number; that is why, we are presenting only the most important of them.