Erivan Fortress
| Yerevan Fortress | |
|---|---|
| Left bank of Hrazdan River (Yerevan Ararat Wine Factory place) Yerevan,  Armenien | |
 View of Erivan in 1796 by G. Sergeevich with Yerevan Fortress in the background. | |
| Coordinates | 40°10′23″N 44°30′10″E / 40.173056°N 44.502778°E |
| Typ | Fortress |
| Site information | |
| Condition | Ruined |
| Site history | |
| Built | 1582-1583[1] |
| In use | Erivan’s Sardars seat |
| Demolished | 1864 |
| Battles/wars | Ottoman–Safavid War (1623–1639) Ottoman–Persian War (1722–1727) Ottoman–Persian War (1730–1736) Russo-Persian War (1826–1828) |
Yerevan Fortress (Armenian: Երևանի բերդ, Russian: Эриванская крепость, Persian: قلعه ایروان, qlʿh ạy̰rwạn), was a medieval fortress located in the city of Erivan.
History
The fortress was built during the time of Turkish rule in 1582-1583 by Ferhat Pasha (an Ottoman army commander)[2][3][1] The fortress was destroyed by an earthquake in 1679. After the earthquake Zal-khan asked the shah for help to rebuilt Yerevan, including the fortress and the Palace of the Sardars. In July 12, 1679 the vice-regent of Atropatene, Mirza Ibrahim, visited Yerevan. He was directed to recover the Yerevan Fortress, the seat of the Erivan’s khan. Many villagers from Gandzak (Ganja), Agulis and Dasht (Nakhichevan) were moved to Yerevan to rebuilt the fortress. The forced labor continued until winter. Later, the Shah allowed everyone returns to their houses. The reconstruction of the Yerevan Fortress was not finished. It was continued and finished in following years. In 1853 the fortress was ruined by an earthquake again. In 1864 it was totally demolished, and in 1865, it was purchased by merchant of the first guild Nerses Tairyants.[3]
Description
The Yerevan Fortress was considered as a separate small town. The fortress was separated from the city with large and unwrought space. The fortress was egg-shaped. The perimeter of the fortress was about 4,000 feet. On three sides it was fenced, and on the fourth (western) side was Zangu River gorge. In north-western part of the fortress had depth of 300 sazhen (640 meters). That side being inaccessible was not walled. The earth mound was considered as a wall. The Yerevan Fortress had three gateways on its double line battlements: Tabriz, Shirvan and Korpu. The walls had towers as old eastern castles. Each wall had an iron gate. And each one had its each guard. The garrison had about 2,000 soldiers. There were 800 houses inside the fortress. The permanent residents of the fortress were only local Muslim Persians. Armenians had only markets. During the day they work and at night they locked the markets and went to their houses.
Khachatur Abovian described the fortress in his novel "Wounds of Armenia" as a "cannibal devil", annihilating Armenians.[4]
Interior
Tha Sardar’s Palace
The palace was in the north-western part of the fortress. The palace hanged on the Hrazdan gorge. It was a square wide building with many sections. The harem was one of the biggest sections, it had length of 200 feet and 125 feet width. It was divided into many rooms and corridors. This palace was built in 1798 during the reign of Huseyn-Ali khan’s son Mahmud khan. [5] All palaces built before, were destroyed. Every time khans either rebuilt, or built a new one. This one was built in 1798. The place was a Persian architecture style building. It is known that the most interesting part of the palace was Shushaband-ayva (The Hall of Mirrors), the glassed covered rest room. Its cornice was covered by colorful glasses. The celling was decorated by the pictures of sparkling flowers. And in the walls of the hall were eight images drawn on the canvas: Fat′h-Ali Shah, Huseyn-Ghuli khan, Hasan khan, Abbas Mirza, Persian legendary hero Faramarz, etc.[6][7]
After the capture of Yerevan by the Russians, in one of the halls of the palace, Aleksandr Griboyedov's famous comedy called Woe from Wit was performed by the military garrison with stand by of the author. A marble memorial plaque which commemorates the performance is in the Yerevan Ararat Wine Factory, which currently occupies the location where the fortress once existed.[8]
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The interior of the Saradar Palace. -
Interior of the Kiosque of the Sirdars. -
A detail of wall decoration of the Sardar Palace, 1828, by a Russian artist V. Moshkov
Harem and the bath
The bath of the khan’s harem was magnificent. The inner walls were covered by marble, with colorful patterns. Near the bath was built a swimming pool (with size of 15 sazhen (32 meters) in length, 4 sazhen (9 meters) in width and 3 arshin (2,1 meters) in depth) for swimming during summers.[9]
The Mosques
There were two mosques inside the Yerevan Fortress. One of them was Turkish (Rajab-Pasha Mosque), second one was Persian (Abbas Mirza Mosque). The ruins of Rajab-Pasha Mosque remained until the beginning of the works of reconstruction of Yerevan in 1930s. The only wall of Abbas Mirza Mosque is still standing.
- Rajab-Pasha Mosque
This mosque was built in 1725 during the reign of Turkish Rajab-Pasha khan. It was a 4-columned arched big building with beautiful exterior. During the Persian rule it was used as an arsenal, because it was a Sunni mosque, while Persians are Shia Muslims. In 1827, this mosque was converted to a Russian Orthodox church, named after the Holy Virgin.[10]
- Abbas Mirza Mosque (Sardar's Mosque)
This mosque was Persian and was built in the beginning of the 19th century, during the reign of the last khan of Erivan Khanate Huseyn-khan. It was Shia mosque and was called “Abbas Mirza Jami” after the son of Huseyn-khan. The façade of mosque was covered by green and blue glasses, which is usually founded in Persian n Arabic architectures. After the capture of Yerevan by the Russians, the mosque was used as an arsenal.[11][12][13][14][15] During Soviet times the mosque, along with other religious structures - Armenian churches, temples and monasteries was derelict and currently only the frame of the mosque has been preserved. [16][17].
See also
References
- ^ a b Template:Hy icon ԵՐԵՎԱՆ ՔԱՂԱՔԻ ՊԱՏՄՈՒԹՅԱՆ ԵՎ ՄՇԱԿՈՒՅԹԻ ԱՆՇԱՐԺ ՀՈՒՇԱՐՁԱՆՆԵՐԻ ՊԵՏԱԿԱՆ ՑՈՒՑԱԿ (State List of the Immovable Historical and Cultural Monuments of the City of Yerevan)
- ^ V. Arutyunyan, “Yerevan”, Moscow, 1968, p. 18
- ^ a b History / The Erivan Fortress
- ^ Template:Hy icon Երևանը և Չերևանը in Armenian Times monitor
- ^ Hovhannes Shahkhatunyants, Ստորագրութիւն Կաթուղիկէ Էջմիածնի և հինգ գաւառացն Արարատայ, volume 2, page 52
- ^ Template:Ru icon Прикосновение к истории
- ^ Template:Hy icon T. Kh. Hakobyan, The History of Yerevan (Երևանի պատմությունը (1801 — 1879 թթ.)), pp. 240-242
- ^ Հայրենագիտական Էտյուդներ (in Armenian). Yerevan: «Սովետական գրող». 1979. pp. 283–284.
{{cite book}}: Unknown parameter|trans_title=ignored (|trans-title=suggested) (help) - ^ I. Chopin, Historical monuments of the Armenian Oblast (Исторический памятник Армянской области), p. 867
- ^ Template:Hy icon Tadevos Hakobyan; ԵՐԵՎԱՆԻ ՊԱՏՄՈՒԹՅՈՒՆԸ (1500–1800 ԹԹ.) (History of Yerevan (1500-1800), 1979, Publishing of YSU, p. 370
- ^ Chopin, Historical monuments of the Armenian oblast (Исторический памятник Армянской области), p. 867
- ^ Gevont Alishan, Ayrarat (Այրարատ), p. 311
- ^ Harry F.B. Lynch, Armenia, travels and studies, Volume 1, Longman, green and co., 1901, Harvard University, p. 283
- ^ Yervand Shahaziz, The Old Yerevan (Հին Երևանը), pp. 34-35, 182, էջ 34—35, 182
- ^ Adam Adamyants, Topography of Yerevan (Տեղագրութիւն Երեւանի), Yerevan, 1889, pp. 38-39
- ^ European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages (ECRML) report for Armenia
- ^ All historical and architectural, cultural and religious buildings in the territory of the Republic of Armenia in the official Website of the Government of the Republic of Armenia
- Template:Hy icon Tadevos Hakobyan; ԵՐԵՎԱՆԻ ՊԱՏՄՈՒԹՅՈՒՆԸ (1500–1800 ԹԹ.) (The History of Yerevan (1500-1800), 1979, Publishing of YSU
