It is always now!: Relief in Karabakh

For this post music with a mixture of styles fits well: Imamyar Hasanov - Mugham meets Jazz
Mugam is classic Azeri music.

The final trip in Karabakh was to the town Shusha. It is located on a mountain which is easy to defend. Therefore it was settled for centuries. Its modern foundation under the name Panahabad is from 1752 as capital of the Karabakh Khanate. This Tatar (Azeri) khanate subdued the Armenian Melikdoms of Karabakh and was later annexed by the Russian empire. I spent hours to read about the amazing history of the southern Caucasus. There were so many different rulers, tribes and also religions. Like in Europe the rulers changed but the local people could develop their own language and culture.

Shusha was at first inhabited by Tatars. Later Armenians who had to leave Persia settled there too and the city was divided in an Armenian and Tatar part. The Russian resettlement politics lead to more Armenian settlers in the city so that it became one of the largest cities in the Caucasus. Eventually the population was approximately half Armenian, half Tatar. When Russia became weak before World War I the troubles started because the Armenian and the Azerbaijan independence movements tried to get Shusha. The result was a devastated city after a massacre and Stepanakert became the new main town in Karabakh.

The upper, Armenian part of the city was not rebuilt and most of its ruins were demolished in the 1960s. The Tatar part was used a Spa town. During the Nagorno-Karabakh war this was demolished by about 80%. Most of the Soviet blocks were reconstructed because people need homes. Major parts of the former city are still ruined. Walking through it is perfect to reflect what war is really about. Therefore go there if you are in the region!

Here are my impressions using this route. The start was at the fortress.

The palace of Natavan.

The building for the spring.

Some walls of the fortress have already been rebuilt.

Opposite of the fortress is the new art museum.

The main plaza has already been reconstructed...

... while the streets around it were under renovation.

One of the houses used as spa during soviet times.

In the Adamyan street.

But they already partly rebuilt the lower mosque. It was closed.

View from the lower mosque.

The mosques' yard.

Also the upper mosque was rebuilt.

It was open.

Also the outer walls of its madrasa were rebuild.

As I wrote in my last post, I was positively perplexed that they invest in the reconstruction of mosques. There are still so many ruins, there are lack of living houses. The roads and schools need to be repaired etc. But they take care of culture despite it is not theirs and that the mosques won't be used by them. Big respect!!!