ARTSAKH HISTORICAL MONUMENTS

Martunashen 52 Monuments

Azerbaijan (Country) / Northern Artsakh (Area) / Khanlar (District) / Martunashen (Village)

Location

It extends on the west-facing slope of a gorge lying on the right bank of one of the right tributaries of the river Kurak, 15 kilometres south-east of the district centre, at an altitude of 1,010 to 1,140 metres above sea level.

Karapetian, Samvel. Northern Artsakh, Yerevan, 2007, p. 402.

Historical Introduction
1675 y․

The village, whose historical name has not been preserved. The construction inscription of a church (1675) standing in the centre of the village mentions it by the name of Gharabulagh, which is also found in an archive document of 1750, “Head of Gharabulagh Village Nikoghayos.”

“Ararat,” 1914, p. 741.
Karapetian, Samvel. Northern Artsakh, Yerevan, 2007, p. 402.

It is traditionally assumed that “...this village used to comprise 500 houses, but its inhabitants emigrated to Georgia to escape Persian tyranny. Many people from other villages of the district joined them: the ruins of their houses can still be seen here and there. In the ‘20s of the 19th century, when stability was restored in the region, most of them, including four families from our village, returned to their homes from the Georgian village of Bolnis. Sev Saki, a 95-year-old man who survived that repatriation, remembers that upon their return, they found their native village devastated by the Turks, and its main church turned into a cattle-house filled with dirt...”

“Nor-Dar,” 1894, No. 73, p. 3.
Karapetian, Samvel. Northern Artsakh, Yerevan, 2007, pp. 402-403.

19 c․

In the late 19th century, Gharabulagh was under the jurisdiction of Luarsab and Pavel Melik-Beglarian together with Manashid, Buzlukh and Sarisu.

National Archives of Armenia, fund 93, list 1, file 388, pp. 61-62.
Karapetian, Samvel. Northern Artsakh, Yerevan, 2007, p. 403.

Construction Activity
19 c․

A visitor who saw the village in the late 19th century writes, “Thanks to its position, the village is quite clean... On the whole, its houses represent ordinary dwellings, but they also comprise some fine two-floor residences.”

Lalayan, Yer. Gandzak District. In: “Azgagrakan Handes,” vol. 5, Tiflis, 1899, No. 1, p. 333.
Karapetian, Samvel. Northern Artsakh, Yerevan, 2007, p. 403.

Monuments
1970 y․

Martunashen participated in the Great Patriotic War with 165 of its inhabitants, 103 of whom fell on the battle-field. One of them, Vaghinak Simon Zakarian, was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. In 1970 their fellow villagers built a memorial perpetuating their memory.

Karapetian, Samvel. Northern Artsakh, Yerevan, 2007, p. 418.

Historical Introduction
1991 y․

Martunashen was stripped of its Armenian population on 2 May 1991.

On 1 May 1991, the residents of Martunashen held the funeral of 5 young Armenians killed on 28 April. The following day when most of the villagers were in the local cemetery to pay tribute to their memory, Martunashen was invaded by the Turks and troops of the Soviet army. The aforementioned people ran away to Getashen right from the grave-yard and were deported together with their compatriots of that village several days later. Karapetian, Samvel. Northern Artsakh, Yerevan, 2007, p. 419.

The village seen from the side of Yeghnasar Monastery Type Photo
View General
Direction From the west
Author Samvel Karapetyan
Source Black-and-white negative
Date 1980 — 1982 yy․

Type Photo
View General
Direction From the west
Author Samvel Karapetyan
Source Black-and-white negative
Date 1980 — 1982 yy․

Type Photo
View General
Direction From the south
Author Samvel Karapetyan
Source Black-and-white negative
Date 1980 — 1982 yy․

A local quarter adjoining Sourb Astvatzatzin Church Type Photo
View Exterior
Author Samvel Karapetyan
Source Colour Negative
Date 1980 — 1982 yy․

Priest Daniel Ter-Simeonian Ter-Baraghamiants Type Photo
View Exterior
Author Samvel Karapetyan
Source Colour Negative

Type Photo
View General
Direction From the west
Author Samvel Karapetyan
Source Colour Negative
Date 1980 — 1982 yy․

Name	Year/Century	Etymology
Gharabulagh

The available statistical data indicate that the local population continually increased between the 19th and 20th centuries:

Dates	Armenian Houses	Armenians (Male)	Armenians (Female)	Total (Armenians)	Notes	Source
1832		30	19	49		National Archives of Armenia, fund 93, list 1, file 50, p. 394; Karapetian, Samvel. Northern Artsakh, Yerevan, 2007, p. 403.
1841	4	6	7	13		National Archives of Armenia, fund 56, list 1, file 350, p. 47; Karapetian, Samvel. Northern Artsakh, Yerevan, 2007, p. 403.
1851	4	30	37	67		National Archives of Armenia, fund 56, list 1, file 2596, p. 93; Karapetian, Samvel. Northern Artsakh, Yerevan, 2007, p. 403.
1876				174		National Archives of Armenia, fund 56, list 1, file 6775, pp. 115-116; Karapetian, Samvel. Northern Artsakh, Yerevan, 2007, p. 403.
1886	41	155	148	303		Yelizavetpol Province: A Statistical Survey Based on the Family Lists of Caucasia's Population. Tiflis, 1888, pp. 88-89; Karapetian, Samvel. Northern Artsakh, Yerevan, 2007, p. 404.
1889		161	146	307		National Archives of Armenia, fund 56, list 1, file 8583, pp. 46-47; Karapetian, Samvel. Northern Artsakh, Yerevan, 2007, p. 404.
1894	40					“Nor-Dar,” 1894, No. 73, p. 3; Karapetian, Samvel. Northern Artsakh, Yerevan, 2007, p. 404.
1901		226	212	438		National Archives of Armenia, fund 56, list 14, file 205, pp. 241-242; Karapetian, Samvel. Northern Artsakh, Yerevan, 2007, p. 404.
1908				583		Caucasian Calendar for 1910, Tiflis, 1909, p. 271; Karapetian, Samvel. Northern Artsakh, Yerevan, 2007, p. 404.
1914				685		Caucasian Calendar for 1915, Tiflis, 1914, p. 133; Karapetian, Samvel. Northern Artsakh, Yerevan, 2007, p. 404.
1917	80	387	269	656		Avetissian, M. M. A Reference Book on the Settlements and Population Number of Nagorno Karabakh and Zangezur (1917). In: “Banber Hayastani Arkhivneri,” 1991, No. 3, p. 166; Karapetian, Samvel. Northern Artsakh, Yerevan, 2007, p. 404.
1918	80	387	269	656		National Archives of Armenia, fund 150, list 1, file 59, p. 4; Karapetian, Samvel. Northern Artsakh, Yerevan, 2007, p. 404.