Kiş (also, Kish and Kish-Kishlak) is a village and municipality in the

Shaki Rayon Shaki District ( az, Şəki rayonu) is one of the 66 districts of Azerbaijan. It is located in the north of the country and belongs to the Shaki-Zagatala Economic Region. The district borders the districts of Qakh, Oghuz, Agdash, Yevlakh, and ...

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...

. It is located approximately 5 km north of Shaki. It has a population of 6,244.

Geography

The village is situated on the shore of the Kish river. The main part of the village surrounded by the mountains is located at the foot of Mount Tat.

Demography

Kish has more than 6500 people according to the results of population census conducted in 2009. Kish village

History

According to Movses Kaghankatvatsi, in the 1st century A.D. St. Elishe, a disciple of

Thaddeus of Edessa According to Eastern Christian tradition, Addai of Edessa ( Syriac: ܡܪܝ ܐܕܝ, Mar Addai or Mor Aday sometimes Latinized Addeus) or Thaddeus of Edessa was one of the seventy disciples of Jesus. He is possibly identical with Thaddaeus, on ...

, arrived to a place called Gis, where he built a church and recited a liturgy. The church became the "spiritual center and the place of enlightenment of people of the East". On his way from Gis St. Elishe was killed near the pagan altar in small Zerguni valley by unknown people. According to the Baku eparchy of the Russian Orthodox Church, the location of Gis mentioned by Movses Kaghankatvatsi is identified with the present-day Kish, located on the left bank of river Kura, in Shaki district of Azerbaijan. The Church of Kish was the first church built in

Caucasian Albania Caucasian Albania is a modern exonym for a former state located in ancient times in the Caucasus: mostly in what is now Azerbaijan (where both of its capitals were located). The modern endonyms for the area are ''Aghwank'' and ''Aluank'', among t ...

and in the

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, mainly comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and parts of Southern Russia. The Caucasus Mountains, including the Greater Caucasus range, have historica ...

. However, according to Armenian commentator Karapetian, the geographical position of Kish does not seem to match that described by Kaghankatvatsi. Karapetian believes that they have identified Gis as the village of Bomen / Bum 60 km to the south-east of Kish, in Gabala district, Uti (Utik) province. According to Georgian historiography, in the 10th century, the population of Kish converted to the Georgian Orthodox Church. Known at the time as part of Sourb Asvatzatzin Church, Kish turned into a residence of Georgian bishop, functioning till 17th century. The population of Kish converted to Islam in 1720s; however, when Russia later took possession of the region, some villagers returned to Christian faith. In 1836, the Albanian church, along with all active churches in this region that were not Georgian or Russian, was incorporated into the

Armenian Apostolic Church , native_name_lang = hy , icon = Armenian Apostolic Church logo.svg , icon_width = 100px , icon_alt = , image = Էջմիածնի_Մայր_Տաճար.jpg , imagewidth = 250px , a ...

, and the Church of Kish was refounded in 1860s and became a place of pilgrimage due to the belief that it was associated with St. Elishe (Yegishe).

Fortress

There are 4 fortresses in Kish: "

Galarsan-Gorarsan Galarsan-Gorarsan ( az, Gələrsən-Görərsən) is a fortress in Azerbaijan, built in the Middle Ages, ruins of which remain on the coast of the Kiş, Shaki, Kish River, about from Shaki, Azerbaijan, Shaki city, on the summit of Garatepe Mountain ...

" and fortresses of "Duluzlar", "Salayuşağı" and "Maaflar" neighbourhoods of Kish,

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kis, Shaki Populated places in Shaki District Elizavetpol Governorate