The historical sites of the village of Chanakhchi in the Shushi district of the Elizavetpol governorate

2024-11-14

In the 1894 issue[1] of the periodical Collection of the Materials for Description of Places and Tribes of the Caucasus, the inspector of the Artsvanik village school in the Zangezur district of the Elizavetpol governorate, E. Melik-Shahnazarov, authored an article about the antiquities of Chanakhchi village in the Shushi district of the Elizavetpol governorate, including 12 illustrations.

Describing the location and surroundings of the Kusanats Anapat Monastery (Maidens' Monastery) in Chanakhchi, the author wrote that, according to legend, King Vachagan III of Aghvank, who had converted to Islam and later repented for his mistake, built the monastery and spent his final years there, reading the Gospel. From that time, the village became known as Avetaranots, meaning "the place where the Gospel was preserved." Several legends about the Kusanats Anapat Monastery are presented, along with a description of the church’s interior, noting that there are inscriptions on the walls; however, the founding date of the monastery is unknown.

The author noted that the monastery has never served as a parish church.

According to the article, the residents of Chanakhchi asserted that the village served as a residence for kings and catholicoi for several centuries. This claim is supported by the images of crowned figures carved on the gravestones. The article also described the Armenian cemetery, where a tombstone with an Armenian inscription had been preserved. The tombstones of the former rulers of Varanda, Melik-Shahnazar and his father, Melik-Huseyin, are especially notable.

E. Melik-Shahnazarov's article is yet another piece of eyewitness evidence confirming that the village of Chanakhchi has been an Armenian settlement.

Chanakhchi is the present-day Avetaranots village in the Askeran region of the Republic of Artsakh, which has been under the control of the Republic of Azerbaijan since 2020.

[1] The 19th issue of the Collection of the Materials for Description of Places and Tribes of the Caucasus, 1894.

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