Samvel Karapetyan, a monument expert and President of the Research on Armenian Architecture Foundation is preparing “Caucasian Albania” volume for publication. The Armenian Albania is situated in the right-bank territories of the Kura River, and the Caucasian Albania is in the left-bank territory up to the Caucasus Mountain Range, which includes the city of Shamakhi, Vardashen and Kutkashen cities (currently in the territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan), where Samvel Karapetyan has travelled and carried out researches during the Soviet years. His authored volume “Caucasian Albania” presents the history and monuments of about 200 villages in the referred regions. “I have registered 3000 monuments – churches, cemeteries, old houses, superb Armenian-built buildings of urban architecture like the ones in Shushi. The buildings date back to the 19th century, but there is a trace of Armenian culture back to 2000 years; for example, constructions of the early Christian period and most importantly, the Catholicosate Monastery of Holy Mother of God in the Calut Village, Vardashen region, which was the residence of Catholicoses of the Caucasian Albania Diocese of the Armenian Church for one century”, told Karapetyan.
He informed that back in 2003, the bell tower of the church in village Matrasa, Shamakhi region, was destroyed, “There is also a trend to demolish in those territories too. The reason is the Armenian origin.” The monument expert regretfully mentioned that there is a lack of new photos of the Armenian monuments in historical Caucasian Albania, “No Armenian can step in there. Whatever photos there are, they once belonged to the Armenians who were subjected to deportation, who had come to Armenia and emigrated to Russia in the 1990s. They find Azerbaijanis there, pay them saying, “Go and take pictures of our village.” In this way, we have the photos telling about the situation in some villages. The Azerbaijani has not taken a picture of the church specifically but just the village and all of a sudden you see a blown up church on the photo.”
Luisa SUKIASYAN
