Old Karavaz Bridge :: ARMENIAN HISTORICAL MONUMENTS

Old Karavaz Bridge 17 c․

NKR / Jabrayil / Khudaperin

Location

The older bridge of Karavaz lies over the river Arax, at the foot of Mount Diri in Kovsakan District (present-day Kashatagh District), Republic of Artsakh (RMK: Republic of Mountainous Karabakh), at an altitude of 248 metres above sea level. Geographical coordinates: N 39°09°25.39,°° E 46°56°15.17.°°

Karapetian, Samvel. The Bridges of Artsakh, Yerevan, 2009, p. 19.

Historical Introduction
5 — 7 cc․

It was probably erected between the 5th and 7th centuries.

Karapetian, Samvel, The Bridges of Artsakh, Yerevan, 2009, p. 19.

13 c․

One of the earliest records mentioning this monument dates from the 13th century: “...Aghahej [District], that is crossed by the river Aghvano and reaches the bridge of Karavaz...” The available Arabic and Persian sources refer to the bridge by the names Hudaferin and Khudaperin.

Orbelian, Stepanos. History of Siunik. Yerevan, 1986, p. 263 (the original in Armenian).
Karapetian, Samvel. The Bridges of Artsakh, Yerevan, 2009, p. 19.

Description
1890 y․

One of the first scholars known to have studied the monument wrote the following in the early 1980s: “The upper bridge, which bespeaks high antiquity, is built of entirely finely-dressed stone. It has nine spans with their piers resting on natural rocks. Four of the span arches are preserved standing, the other five lying in ruins...”

Barkhutariants, M. Artsakh. Baku, 1895, p. 62 (the original in Armenian).
Karapetian, Samvel. The Bridges of Artsakh, Yerevan, 2009, p. 19.

Architectural Description
1975 — 1977 yy․

Between 1975 and 1977—for the first time in its history—the older bridge of Karavaz was measured within the framework of the Soviet-Iranian joint project of revealing the power generation potential of the river Arax. According to measurement results, the bridge of 11 spans has a length of 130 metres and a width of 6 metres, its height above water level reaching 12 metres.

Mamedzade, K. Building Art of Azerbaijan. Baku, 1983, p. 47 (the original in Russian).
Karapetian, Samvel. The Bridges of Artsakh, Yerevan, 2009, p. 19.

Foundation

The foundation of the older bridge of Karavaz is attributed to the ancient world, and even to the times of the Achaemenid Empire.

Karapetian, Samvel. The Bridges of Artsakh, Yerevan, 2009, p. 19.

Description

750 m up by the river course there was another ruined bridge with 11 spans. Contrary to the former, which was mainly built of brick, the latter was built of processed and semi-processed stone and mortar. The researchers concluded that it was rebuilt in the XIII cent, on the pylons of the older bridge of the VII century AD.

A. V. Salamzade, K. K. Mamedzade, Azerbaijanian Bridges of the XII-XIII Centuries, "Architectural Heritage", Moscow, 1983, p. 91-97 (in Russian).
Samvel Karapetian, Armenian Cultural Monuments in the Region of Karabakh, Yerevan, 2001, p. 227.

Type Photo
View From space
Author http://earth.google.com

The old multi-span bridge of Karavaz from space

Type Photo
View Exterior
Author Samvel Karapetyan
Source Colour Negative

Partial view of the bridge piers

Type Photo
View From space
Author http://earth.google.com/

Type Photo
View Exterior
Author Samvel Karapetyan
Source Colour Negative

Type Photo
View `
Author Philip Zalian
Source Colour Negative

Type Photo
View Exterior
Author Samvel Karapetyan
Source Colour Negative

Type Measurement
Author Reprint
Source Sketch

Prepared for publication by Ashot Hakobian

Name	Year/Century	Etymology
Hudaferin
Khudaperin