Lev ( Azerbaijani and ; ) is a village in the

Kalbajar District Kalbajar District ( az, Kəlbəcər rayonu) is one of the 66 districts of Azerbaijan. It is located in the west of the country and belongs to the East Zangezur Economic Region. The district borders the districts of Lachin, Khojaly, Agdam, Tart ...

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 ...

. The medieval Armenian

Handaberd Handaberd ( hy, Հանդաբերդ), also known as Lekh Castle ( az, Lex qalası, Löh qalası) or Lev Castle, is a 9th-century fortress located in the Kalbajar District of Azerbaijan, near the villages of Lev and , on the right bank of the Lev� ...

fortress and monastery are located near the village.

History

According to medieval Armenian sources, Lev has been an Armenian settlement since the

middle ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

. The historical settlement of Lev was located on the southern slope of the left bank of the Lev river. Lev was mentioned in 1763, in the list of the monastic residences of

Dadivank Dadivank ( hy, Դադիվանք) or Khutavank ( hy, Խութավանք, translation=monastery on the hillЖеан-Паул Лабурдетьте, Доминикуе Аузиас, Армения, Petit Futé, 2007 – p. 203) is an Armenian Ap ...

. It served as a monastic residence until 1913. Makar Barkhudaryan, an

Apostolic Apostolic may refer to: The Apostles An Apostle meaning one sent on a mission: *The Twelve Apostles of Jesus, or something related to them, such as the Church of the Holy Apostles *Apostolic succession, the doctrine connecting the Christian Churc ...

bishop and

ethnographer Ethnography (from Greek ''ethnos'' "folk, people, nation" and ''grapho'' "I write") is a branch of anthropology and the systematic study of individual cultures. Ethnography explores cultural phenomena from the point of view of the subject o ...

from

Shusha / hy, Շուշի , settlement_type = City , image_skyline = ShushaCollection2021.jpg , image_caption = Landmarks of Shusha, from top left:Ghazanchetsots Cathedral • Yukhari Govhar ...

, mentions the monastery in Lev during his 19th century travels. The Armenian monastery of the village survived until 1913, when it was destroyed by

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

authorities. There is a 9th century Armenian fortress called

(Lev castle) located near the village. It was built by Atrnerseh I, ruler of the Armenian

Principality of Khachen The Principality of Khachen ( hy, Խաչենի իշխանություն, Khacheni ishkhanutyun) was a medieval Armenian principality on the territory of historical Artsakh (present-day Nagorno-Karabakh). The provinces of Artsakh and Utik were ...

, who resided there. It served as Atrnerseh's residence as well as a prison for prisoners sentenced to death. According to the inscription on one of the

khachkars A ''khachkar'', also known as a ''khatchkar'' or Armenian cross-stone ( hy, խաչքար, , խաչ xačʿ "cross" + քար kʿar "stone") is a carved, memorial stele bearing a cross, and often with additional motifs such as rosettes, in ...

kept at Dadivank, from 1142 to 1182 Handaberd belonged to Hasan I Vakhtangyan, prince of Upper Khachen. Some time after the initial construction under Atrnerseh, the fortress was significantly expanded. Around 1250, the fortress is mentioned in the history written by the Armenian historian

Kirakos Gandzaketsi Kirakos Gandzaketsi (; c. 1200/1202–1271) was an Armenian historian of the 13th century S. Peter Cowe. Kirakos Ganjakec'i or Arewelc'i // Christian-Muslim Relations. A Bibliographical History / Edited by David Thomas & Alex Mallet. — BRILL, 20 ...

References

External links

*
T.X. Hakobyan: Հայաստանի եւ հարակից շրջանների տեղանունների բառարան, Երեւանի Համալսարանի Հրատարակչություն, Երեւան, 1988
Populated places in Kalbajar District Former Armenian inhabited settlements {{Kalbajar-geo-stub