2025
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2025-11-03
The city of Zaqatala is located in the northern part of Eastern Transcaucasia. The nearby territories were originally part of the kingdom of Albania and later belonged to the Georgian state. Armenians settled here as early as the early Middle Ages. However, in the 17th–18th centuries, part of the local Christian population (Armenians and Georgians) was forced to convert to Islam under pressure from the local authorities.
At the beginning of the 19th century, when the area came under the control of the Russian Empire, a town developed around the Zaqatala fortress, and its first inhabitants were Armenians. The Russian authorities encouraged Armenians, particularly merchants and craftsmen, to settle there. Most of the Armenians who settled in and around Zaqatala had moved there from Agulis, Ganja, Sighnaghi, Nukhi, Tiflis, and Shushi.
According to preserved data, in 1886 the town had about 300 households, of which 200 were Armenian, and the rest were Russians, Georgians, and Poles. There were no Muslims in Zaqatala except for a few servants and traders.
In 1854, there were 4 Armenian households with 13 residents; by 1872, there were 52 households with 205 residents. According to data from 1908, Zaqatala had 276 households with 1,635 Armenians, and by 1916 the Armenian population of the town had reached 2,165, comprising 48 percent of the total urban population.
In fact, Armenians were among the founders of the town, and a significant part of its economic activity belonged to them. The local Armenians were also engaged in silk production. In 1889, Hovhannes Anyan from Zaqatala received a silver medal at the Caucasian Exhibition for producing high-quality silk.
In 1877, an Armenian parish boys’ school was opened in Zaqatala, located next to the St. Gevorg Church. During the first academic year of 1877–1878, the school had 32 students. In 1887, Grigor Khalatyants, an educator, also taught at the school, which was named after St. Vardan. In the 1889–1890 academic year, the number of students was 68. The merchant Avetis Ohanyants from Ganja played an important role in supporting the school, giving it financial aid every year from 1882 to 1892. Starting in 1892, a small theater operated alongside the school. In 1894, a girls’ section was opened at the Armenian parish school. During its first year, 1894–1895, the school had 81 students—64 boys and 17 girls, and 4 teachers. In the following year (1895–1896), enrollment grew to 108 students - 74 boys and 44 girls. By the 1911–1912 academic year, the school had 288 students, including 138 girls. The school was closed in 1918 but reopened in the 1920s, after the establishment of Soviet rule in Azerbaijan. Under pressure from the local Azerbaijani authorities, however, the Armenian school was finally shut down in 1953.
In 1870, a National library and reading room was also opened adjacent to the school. By 1872, it held 165 volumes, and by 1912 its collection had grown to 1,219 volumes. The library was also subscribed to Armenian newspapers such as Mshak, Ararat, Meghu Hayastani (“Bee of Armenia”), and Horizon.
In the city center, near the fortress, stood the wooden Armenian church of St. Gevorg, first mentioned in 1833. In the 1840s, the construction on a new stone church of St. Gevorg started, and the main work was completed by the 1850s. The following inscription appeared on the facade above the church’s southern entrance:
"This church of the Armenians was built in 1851 through the efforts and means of the Armenian merchants of Zaqatala, in the name of Saint Gevorg the Warrior, during the reign of Nicholas Pavlovich and the patriarchate of the Armenian Catholicos Nerses E. At that time, Prince Varantsov was the governor of the region, General Prince Grigor Orbelianov was the military commander, and the priest was Ter Daniel."
During the Soviet period, the Azerbaijani authorities turned the church into a dormitory. When monument specialist Samvel Karapetyan visited Zaqatala in 1984, the Armenian inscriptions on St. Gevorg Church were covered with plaster. During his visit, he discovered one Armenian inscription that had not been plastered over:
"This narthex was built through the efforts and means of Stepan Grigorov from Sighnaghi in the year 1851."
Today, the Armenian church in Zaqatala is in a dire and partially ruined condition. The inscriptions inside the church were destroyed. The Azerbaijani authorities demolished the city’s Armenian cemetery.
The years 1863, 1876, and 1905–1906 were particularly tragic for the Armenians of Zaqatala. In 1863, Lezgins attacked the Zaqatala fortress, but the local Russian garrison, arming the Armenians of Zaqatala, managed to repel the assault with their help.
In 1876, the city’s population suffered greatly because of a fire that destroyed much of Zaqatala. However, the city was rebuilt with the help of the Armenians. In 1905–1906, the wave of Armenian–Tatar clashes also reached Zaqatala. The events that began in the region after the 1917 Russian Revolution had even more severe consequences for the city’s Armenian population. Local Muslims attacked Armenians and looted their property. The situation worsened further when Zaqatala became part of the newly established Republic of Azerbaijan, forcing many Armenians to leave the city. After the establishment of Soviet rule, some of the Armenians who had fled returned and resettled there. In 1928, about 200 Armenian families were registered in Zaqatala, and in 1930 the number was 206. By 1984, there were around 70–80 Armenian households in the city, totaling about 300 people.
Several notable figures were born in Zaqatala, including people’s artist of the Armenian SSR and the USSR David Malyan, poet and translator Aleksandr Tsaturyan, and honored architect of Armenia Shmavon Azatyan, among others.
In November 1988, the local Azerbaijani authorities organized anti-Armenian pogroms in Zaqatala, after which the Armenians were forced to leave the city.
Bibliography
Kochareants, M. “Letter from Zaqatala.” Mshak, No. 21, June 1, 1872, p. 2.
Kochareants, M. “Letter from Zaqatala.” Mshak, No. 22, June 8, 1872, p. 2.
Kochareants, M. “Letter from Zaqatala.” Mshak, No. 14, April 19, 1873, p. 2.
Hakobyan, G. “Letter from Zaqatala.” Mshak, 144, October 6, 1883, p. 1.
Matineants, A. “Overview about the Zaqatala Region.” Nor-Dar, No. 146, September 14, 1884, p. 3.
Matineants, A. “Overview about the Zaqatala Region.” Nor-Dar, No. 147, September 15, 1884, pp. 2–3.
T. At. “Correspondence, Zaqatala.” Nor-Dar, No. 40, March 20, 1886, pp. 1–2.
T. At. “Correspondence, Zaqatala.” Nor-Dar, No. 144, September 1, 1888, p. 3.
Aveteants, A. “Letter to the Editor.” Mshak, No. 134, November 21, 1892, p. 2.
Karapetyan S., The Armenian Lapidary Inscriptions of Aghvank Proper, Yerevan, 1997, pp. 14-15.
Karapetyan S., The Armenians in Kakhet, RAA Scientific Researches, 8, Yerevan, 2004, pp. 194-199.
Karapetyan, S., Aghvank Proper, Part 1, Yerevan, 2024, pp. 63-81.
Bishop Makar Barkhutaryants. The Land of Aghvank and Its Neighbors. Artsakh. Yerevan, 1999, pp. 139-140.