2025
Alyar was one of the former Armenian-populated villages of the Shaki region. It is located 30 km south of Shaki town. The Armenians of this village had migrated from the ancient village of Pasnjagh in the same district.
During a visit by Bishop Makar Barkhutaryants in 1888, the village had 50 households with a population of 299. As of 1914, Alyar was entirely Armenian-populated, with 291 residents.
The majority of Alyar's population was massacred in the summer of 1918 by invading Turkish forces and Musavatists, and the village was depopulated of Armenians after 1918.
Alyar village had a church named Surb Astvatsatsin, which was mentioned in documents as early as 1851. It was renovated in 1885, with the date "1885" carved into the church wall.
During a visit by the monument researcher Samvel Karapetyan, the village's Armenian cemetery, with inscribed tombstones from the 19th to 20th centuries, was still preserved.
The village is now called Aliyar and is inhabited by Azerbaijanis.
Bibliography
Barkhutaryants M., Land of Aghvank and its Neighbors: Artsakh, Yerevan, 1999.
Karapetyan S., The Armenian Lapidary Inscriptions of Aghvank Proper, Yerevan, 1997.