, image = Kiçik mərdəkan qəsri.jpg , caption = , map_type = Azerbaijan , map_alt = , map_caption = Location within Azerbaijan , former_names = , structural_system = , address = , location = Mardakan , location_city = WP baku siegel

Baku Baku (, ; az, Bakı ) is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. Baku is located below sea level, which makes it the lowest lying national capital in the world an ...

, location_country =

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 ...

, coordinates = , status = Used as museum , building_type = , architectural_style = Architectural school of Shirvan-Absheron , client =

Fariburz III Fariburz III ( fa, فریبرز) was the Shirvanshah from to 1255. He ruled during a time in Shirvanshah history that scholarship has referred to "a period of total confusion", due to the lack of written records and contradictory numismatic eviden ...

, current_tenants = , landlord = , start_date = , completion_date = 1232 , demolition_date = , height = 16 m , diameter = , other_dimensions = , floor_count = , floor_area = , material =

Limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms w ...

, main_contractor = , architect = Abd al-Majid Masood oghlu , structural_engineer = , services_engineer = , civil_engineer = , other_designers = , quantity_surveyor = , awards = The Round Mardakan Fortress or the Small Mardakan Castle ( az, Dairəvi Mərdəkan qalası or az, Kiçik Mərdəkan qəsri) is a historical and architectural monument located in the Mardakan settlement of the Khazar district in

. By the Decree of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Azerbaijan, it was included in the list of historical and cultural monuments of world importance. In 2001, together with other coastal defence facilities of the

Caspian Sea The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland body of water, often described as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. An endorheic basin, it lies between Europe and Asia; east of the Caucasus, west of the broad steppe of Central A ...

, it was included in the

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international coope ...

World Heritage Reserve List. The inscription (kitabe) on the castle's donjon says that it was built in 1232 by the architect Abdulmajid ibn Masud at the order of the Shirvanshah Fariburz III. During the construction of the castle, lime mortar and local limestone were used. The Round Mardakan castle on plan consists of a central tower surrounded by powerful walls of 7 meters high supported by blind towers on the sides. The diameter of the tower is 7.6 m, the thickness of the walls on the lower floor is 2 m. Inside, the tower is divided into three tiers covered with stone flat domes. In the thickness of the wall of the third floor there is a small sanitary niche with a drain brought out to the outside.

History

The Round Mardakan Castle was part of the fortress complex once located on this territory and which has not survived to nowadays. The inscription (kitabe) on the castle's donjon says that it was built in 1232.

Architectural features

The Round Mardakan Castle, which has an architectural plan typical for the cities of the Near and

Central Asia Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes the fo ...

of the 12th-15th centuries, consists of a central tower surrounded by powerful walls of 7 meters high supported by blind towers on the sides. The length of the fortress walls on all sides is 25 meters. There are loopholes at the corners of the fortress walls. During the construction of the castle, lime mortar and local limestone were used. The central tower of the castle is well distinguished by its cylindrical volume, that once, apparently, ended in a powerful battlement parapet based on preserved stone brackets. The height of the tower to the brackets that supported the machicolations is about 15 m, the outer diameter is of 7.6 m, the thickness of the walls of the lower floor is of 2 m. On the inside, the tower is divided into three tiers covered with flat stone domes. There are round holes in the centre of the domes. The entrance to the tower is located at the ground level. This unfavourable circumstance for defence purposes is compensated by a very high entrance to the second floor at the height of more than three meters from the first floor. Thus, the attackers who broke into the first floor of the tower met with a new difficulty in accessing the second floor, while, at the same time, being fired upon through a hole in the dome. There are no other openings in the walls of the first floor with the exception of the doorway and the opening to the second floor. In the second and the third floors there are loopholes that go out to the outer plane of the walls of the tower with narrow slots, with a strong expansion of their light slopes into the tower. The loopholes, apparently, served mainly for lighting, being essentially windows. In the wall's thickness of the third floor, there is a small sanitary niche with a drain brought out. The upper platform of the tower was defensive and, thus, only the second and the third floors were residential. Their total area is about 32 square metres. The architect-researcher L. G. Mamikonov believes that this insignificant area indicates either a small family structure and limited funds of the owner of the tower, or that the tower did not serve as a place of a permanent residence, rather only a refuge during a siege. The limited number of loopholes and their design shows that the main defence of the tower was still concentrated on its upper platform. The brackets are designed as figured consoles. The lowest ledge protrudes slightly from the surface of the walls; its frontal plane is decorated with a geometric carved ornament. Above, there is a buoy supporting the crowning part of the cornice which carried the currently destroyed parapet. The Mardakan Castle's brackets are located frequently, which suggests a significant load and, consequently, a high parapet, probably crowned with battlements, hiding behind which, the defenders could fire at the enemy on the outskirts of the tower. Maschikuli were used to defeat the attackers directly at the walls' base. In the gaps between the brackets, the defenders of the castle threw stones, doused the besiegers with boiling tar, etc.

References

{{Castles and fortresses in Azerbaijan Buildings and structures in Baku Castles and fortresses in Azerbaijan Buildings and structures completed in 1232 Monuments and memorials in Azerbaijan Tourist attractions in Azerbaijan

History

Architectural features

See also

References