Shahbulag Castle
Located about 10km north of Aghdam. Currently serves as a museum for the objects uncovered by the adjacent Tigranakert excavations.
At the southern foot of Vankasar, there, where the mountain ridge rallies with the plain, under the limestone rocks springs out a fast spring Shah-Bulagh. It's not just a simple spring, it's a large stream. Most likely Khachenaget in upper and middle streams is sucked in volcanic porous and with small chaps rocks, and by the prevolcanic period river-valley buried under the mountain it comes out to Shah-Bulagh. This vivifying water appeared the first and the main condition, that here has been a settlement throughout ages.
Its implicit evidence are the mountains. First of all we should mention that the monuments in here accoding to their periods are mainly divided into four parts, or to say it by a geological term- consist of four layers. The first layer of monuments, that is the ones built in late period are in half-destroyed condition. Let's start our acquaintance with them. Here in the southern side of the spring a strong oriental style construction has preserved. The exterior layer is completely destroyed and that's why it's difficult to decide what the naked construction is without measurements. A little towards east from the spring are seen parts of ruined ramparts, foundations of towers. The written facts evidence that in the second quarter of 18c Panah Ali khan from Kabirli region's Bayat fort together with its nomad relatives hs transferred here, rebuilt the once existing fortress and settled for some period. In the rebuilt fortress he built a market and a mosque. Later on, when the khan had transferred to Shushi, Shah-Bulagh's fortress was little by little abandoned adn it was turned into ruins.
Map
<googlemap lat="40.068739" lon="46.905956" zoom="15"> 40.068739,46.905956, Shakhbulag Fortress </googlemap>