ARTSAKH HISTORICAL MONUMENTS

Gyavurghala 3 Monuments

NKR (Country) / Aghdam (District) / Gyavurghala (City Site)

Location

The mound is situated at the left riverside of the Khachenaget, between the villages Boy-Ahmedli and Sofurlu, 12 km northwest of the regional centre Aghdam.

Samvel Karapetian, Armenian Cultural Monuments in the Region of Karabakh, Yerevan, 2001, p. 214.

Historical Introduction

The site, which is presently called Gavurghala (i.e. the Christians’ fortress) represents a hill covered by the ruins of once lively city dating from at least the early medieval period. The historical name of this city is lost, though some researchers assume that this is the ancient Tigranakert of Artsakh.

Samvel Karapetian, Armenian Cultural Monuments in the Region of Karabakh, Yerevan, 2001, p. 214.

Description
1950 y․

Excavations here were conducted in the 50-ies by archaeologist Vahidov, who represented the entire material discovered from this site as Albanian. Alongside with other finds excavations of the site disclosed the prop-walls of an Armenian church, cemetery, inscribed tombstones, etc.

R. M. Vahidov, Kovurkala..., vol. 6, Baku, 1965 (in Azerb.).
R. B. Geyushev, Stone Idols of New Type, "DAN" AzSSR, 1966, N 6, p. 77-79, and Excavations of the Gavur-Kala City in "Archaeological discoveries of 1971 in Azerbaijan", Baku, 1972; and Works at the Gavur-kala City, "Archaeological Discoveris of 1977", Moscow, 1978 and Christianity in the Caucasian Albania, Baku, 1984, p. 60 (in Russian) by the same author.
Samvel Karapetian, Armenian Cultural Monuments in the Region of Karabakh, Yerevan, 2001, p. 214.

Ruins of numerous other buildings and pillar bases, built mainly of lime stone had been found in Gavurghala. Investigation revealed that the city had two cemeteries, one of them being Christian (i.e. Armenian) and the other - pagan.

Samvel Karapetian, Armenian Cultural Monuments in the Region of Karabakh, Yerevan, 2001, p. 215. This regards the cemetery with anthropomorphic tomb stones, suggestively referred to the Khazars. After the excavations most of them were delivered to the Aghdam Open Air Museum.