TIGRANAKERT FORTRESS MUSEUM

Stepanakert has not kept any trace of a history that goes back to the 5th century, when King Vatchagan III the Pious founded the town that bore the name of Vararakn until it was renamed Khankend in 1823. It is in homage to the Armenian revolutionary Stepan Chahoumian (1978-1918) that the Soviet authorities renamed it in 1923 (built by Stepan). About 20 km east of Stepanakert, after Askeran, on the outskirts of the Azeri town of Agdam, controlled by the Armenians, an archaeological site has revealed the existence of a much older city, built by Tigran the Great. Since 2010, in a steppe setting, a fortress with powerful ramparts, punctuated by crenellated corner towers, round and square, signals this major discovery for the history of Artsakh. It is a reconstruction of the fortress founded more than 2,000 years ago by the Armenian Emperor Tigran the Great (95-55 BC) to defend one of his four capitals, whose foundations were revealed after excavations undertaken in the early 2000s. The site reveals the foundations of a great ancient city. The products of the excavations, coins, ceramics and other objects, are on display in the museum set up in the castle, which has been restored to its 14th-century state, when it was still in operation. The local authorities are proud of this new site, which proves, if the Azerbaijanis do not like it, the age of Armenian settlement in the region.