About Nagorno Karabakh

Nagorno-Karabakh is a landlocked, mountainous region in the South Caucasus, squeezed between Armenia, Iran and Azerbaijan.  ‘Nagorno’ is derived from the Russian word ‘nagorny,’ meaning mountainous.  ‘Karabakh’ is a combination of the Turkic word ‘kara’ meaning black and the Persian word ‘bagh’ meaning garden, Mountainous Black Garden. 

Nagorno-Karabakh is a modern name used to describe a region known historically as Artsakh.  Stretching from the mountains of Lake Sevan, south to the river Araks, Artsakh was the tenth province of the ancient Kingdom of Armenia.  Its rich cultural heritage testifies to the millennia long character of the region that can be traced as far back as the 5th century BC.¹  Bronze age cuneiform inscriptions from the Biblical Kingdom of Urartu describe it as Ardakh, Urdekhe and Atakhuni.² Artsakh is mentioned in the works of Pliny the Elder, Ptolemy, Plutarch, Dio Cassius, and Greek geographer Stabo (63 – 23 BC) who describes the region as Orchistenê, a province of the Kingdom of Armenia.³  Artsakh’s geographical location and rich history have contributed to an ancient tradition of institutional autonomy and legacy of self-governance and factual sovereignty, adding to the unique Armenian identity of the region.  With an ethnic 94% Armenian population, Artsakh is and has always been populated mainly by Armenians. 

The history of Nagorno-Karabakh in the twentieth century is complex.   During the 1920s, the borders of the republics of Armenia, Georgia, and newly created Azerbaijan were being determined as the Soviet Union was created. The historically Armenian areas of Nagorno-Karabakh, Zanghezour and Nakhichevan were originally recognised as part of the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic and were only later included in the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic.  Nagorno Karabakh was designated as semi-autonomous, known as Nagorno Karabakh Autonomous Oblast. 

As the Soviet Union collapsed, in 1988 the population of Nagorno-Karabakh voted to unify itself with Armenia, resulting in violent clashes with Azerbaijan and pogroms directed against Armenians in Sumgait in 1988 and Baku in 1990. In 1991, Nagorno Karabakh, with its ethnic Armenian majority population democratically voted for independence from the Soviet Union and declared itself an independent state.  As Azerbaijan declared independence from the Soviet Union, its powers of governance over Nagorno Karabakh were also removed. This request for independence was not recognised by the new Azerbaijan state and Azerbaijan launched a military campaign for the lands belonging to the self-declared independent Nagorno-Karabakh.   War ensued which resulted in the attempted ethnic cleansing of the Armenian population from the region.  In 1994 a ceasefire was brokered but a formal peace treaty was never agreed.  As a result, the region has endured political turmoil and economic neglect, in a state of “no war, no peace."⁴

The cease fire was regularly violated through-out its 20-year history and in April 2016 tensions sparked into a full conflict in what is referred to as the 4 Days War, which resulted in the deaths of over 200 soldiers and several civilians.  In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, a temporary ceasefire was agreed between the Armenian and Azerbaijani governments in April 2020.

On 27th September 2020, Azerbaijan launched an unprecedented military assault against the Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh, with the support of Turkey, and with the clear intention to remove the Armenian population from their ancestral lands. It was the worst fighting the region has seen since the war in the early 1990s, which killed about 30,000 people.  The joint Azerbaijani-Turkish aggression has been accompanied by the gravest violations of human rights, war crimes and crimes against humanity.  This includes indiscriminate attacks against civilians, the deployment of Syrian and Libyan mercenaries, public executions, executions of prisoners of war, the use of banned cluster munitions and the deliberate and systematic destruction of cultural and religious heritage, such as the bombing of the Holy Savior Cathedral in Shushi.  The 44-day conflict saw over 5000 killed and over 44,000 unable to safely return home. On 9th November a fragile cease fire agreement was signed.  Although it succeeded in stopping the fighting, it did not resolve the question over Nagorno-Karabakh’s status or address the right of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh to self-determination, and the situation remains volatile.

“While there are many questions about Nagorno-Karabakh and its political status, the beauty and cultural richness of its remote mountain landscape are undeniable.”⁵

The territory of the modern Nagorno Karabakh, the Republic of Artsakh, forms just part of the historic region of Karabakh, which lies between the Kura and Araxes rivers and border with Armenia.  Nagorno Karabakh today comprises part of the larger region of Upper Karabakh, or Haut Karabakh. 

Covering an area of 4,400 km2 (1,700 sq mi),¹ the average altitude is 1,100m (3,600ft) above sea level.  The highest point in the country is Mount Kirs at 2,725 metres (8,940 ft) which lies between the Shushi and Hadrut districts.

Nagorno Karabakh is situated on a plateau which slopes downwards towards the east and southeast. Its environment varies from alpine meadows and pristine birchwood forests on the higher slopes to dense forests of oak, hornbeam on the lower down which give way to steppe on the Kura lowlands.   Vineyards, orchards and mulberry groves for silkworm production are found throughout the valleys.  Most rivers in the country flow towards the Artsakh Valley.²  The largest water body is the Sarsang reservoir in Hadrut, and the major rivers are the Terter and Khachen rivers, both tributaries of the Kura-Arax basin.³

Artsakh is a gem hidden in the mountains, rich with magnificent and picturesque natural and cultural landscape. The Janapur Trail is a marked trail through the mountains, valleys and villages of Nagorno Karabakh.  Stretching from Hadrut in Nagorno-Karabakh to Vardenis in Armenia, the trail passes many of the most important sites in Nagorno-Karabakh, including the city of Shushi, Dadivank monastery, Gandzasar monastery, the Karkar canyon and Azokh caves.  (Please note that since the 2020 war it is no longer possible to hike the trail and some of the sites are no longer accessible).

The Azokh caves are an archaeologically significant cave complex in the Hadrut region.  Surrounded by dense forest, the caves lie close to the Kurachay river.  The complex is formed of six chambers which are connected to each other by different passages.  One of the most significant finds at Azokh is part of a Neanderthal jaw, which confirms early human settlement in the region.  Located on the Transcaucasian Corridor, it is possible the site forms part of the prehistoric migration route from Africa and Europe to Asia.

Nagorno-Karabakh is also home to the ancient ruins of Tigranakert, a Hellenistic city founded in the 1st Century BC by the Armenian king, Tigran the Great (95 – 55 BC), Tigranakert is located 30km north-east from Stepanakert.  The site was discovered in 2005 by Dr Hamlet Petrosyan of the Armenian Academy of Sciences.  According to Dr Petrosyan, Tigranakert is “the best preserved city of the Hellenistic and Armenian traditions.”⁴  The site has ancient fortifications that occupy seven hectares, surrounded by sophistically-planned urban districts of 70 hectares.  It is thought the city was built to guard the eastern frontiers of ancient Armenia from invasion by the Caucasian Albanian tribes.    Although a Hellenistic site, Tigranakert has been found to be archeologically significant as a hub for early Christianity, including the excavation of an early Christian square with two churches and Armenian and Greek inscriptions dating back to the 5th and 7th centuries.

Tigranakert was under the control of the Republic of Artsakh as part of the Askeran Province until handed over to Azerbaijani authorities under the Trilateral agreement signed in November 2020.  The site came under shelling by Azerbaijan during the 2020 war and there are concerns for its future.⁵

Due to its Christian heritage, Artsakh is a unique place for religious tourism. Every year thousands of pilgrims visit Artsakh for worship in the ancient monasteries of Gandzasar, Dadivank, Amaras and the Cathedral of Ghazanchetsots. 

Probably the most important structure in Karabakh is the Gandzasar Monastery which signifies the millennia-old Armenian presence in Karabakh. Dating from the 5th century, the monastery is centred on the church of Surp Hovhannes Mkrtich (St John the Baptist), which has exceptional carved friezes around its central drum. There are well-preserved inscriptions and khachkars (carved stone crosses) in the church’s antechamber, which is filled with the floor-slab tombs of former bishops and nobles of the region.⁶

Dadivank, also known as the “monastery on the hill” was founded by St Dadi, a disciple of the Apostle Thaddeus in the 1st century AD.  Dadivank is famous for its bell tower, fine khachkars and monastic cells around the main 13th-century Surp Dadi church. The grave of St Dadi was discovered in 2007 under the holy alter of the main church and the princes of Upper Khachen are buried under the floor in the gavit, the distinctive Armenian entrance to the church that also functions as a mausoleum.⁷  After the 2020 war, Dadivank came under Azerbaijani control under the Trilateral Agreement.  After the withdrawal of Armenian forces from the region, the monastery was placed under the protection of Russian peacekeepers.  However, there is concern that the site is at risk of historical revisionism, vandalism and possible destruction.

The Ghazanchetsots, or Holy Savior Cathedral, is an Armenian Apostolic cathedral in Shushi.  It is the cathedral of the Diocese of Artsakh of the Armenian Apostolic Church build between 1868-1887. It is one of the largest Armenian churches in the world.⁸ It was damaged during the 1920 massacre of Armenians and fell into decline during the Soviet period.  During the first Nagorno-Karabakh war (1988 – 1994) it was used as a munitions store by Azerbaijan.  In the recent 44-day war in 2020, it was shelled twice by Azerbaijan and has suffered extensive damage.  Ghazanchetsots is also situated in territory that came under the control of Azerbaijan in the Trilateral agreement.  Since the ceasefire was signed, the neighbouring church of St John the Baptist, known in Armenian as Kanach Zham (or Green Church because of its distinctive green roof), has been destroyed.