Meliken Duz Stronghold :: ARMENIAN HISTORICAL MONUMENTS

Meliken Duz Stronghold

NKR / Shushi / Karkar

Location

It was unclosed on a hill opposite the Ministry of Urban Planning of the NKR, on the right bank of the river Karkar, opposite Stepanakert, 2,970 metres north of the Citadel of Karkar (azimuth: 12°, geographical coordinates: N 39°48’40.3,” E 46°46’27.6”; 803 metres above sea level), on its northern approaches.

Sargissian Gagik & Hakobian Alexan, The Newly-Unearthed City Site of Karkar in Artsakh, in: "Vardzk", 2011, N 4, p. 51.

Description

The stronghold, not of large dimensions, which is named Meliken Duz, was probably the northern base of the vanguard defence line.

Sargissian Gagik & Hakobian Alexan, The Newly-Unearthed City Site of Karkar in Artsakh, in: "Vardzk", 2011, N 4, p. 51.

The conical top rising at the eastern edge of the hill, which has an east-westward extension, preserves the ruins of a rectangular stone-built structure (dimensions: 8 to 10 metres) belonging to the Citadel, together with the hardly discernible traces of the ramparts thoroughly enclosing the hill and its base. At the summit of a massive rock, protruding out of the west-facing slope of the hill, can be seen a table-shaped projection on which three round pits are dug, being connected with each other through canals. It resembles a Zoroastrian fire altar, the overground pottery found there dating back to the same period to which the medieval finds of Karkar are attributed.

Sargissian Gagik & Hakobian Alexan, The Newly-Unearthed City Site of Karkar in Artsakh, in: "Vardzk", 2011, N 4, p. 51.

Direction From the west
Author Gagik Sargissian