Havuş (formerly known as Havus) is a village and municipality in the

Sharur District Sharur District () is one of the 7 districts of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic of Azerbaijan. The district borders the districts of Kangarli, Sadarak, as well as the Vayots Dzor and Ararat provinces of Armenia and the West Azerbaijan Prov ...

of the

Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic The Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic (, ) is a landlocked country, landlocked Enclave and exclave, exclave of the Azerbaijan, Republic of Azerbaijan. The region covers Official portal of Nakhchivan Autonomous RepublicNakhchivan Autonomous Republi ...

enclave in

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

. It is located 35 kilometers west of the district center on the slope of the Daralayaz ridge, which forms the

border Borders are generally defined as geography, geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by polity, political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other administrative divisio ...

with

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

. Havuş is about 2,000 meters above sea level. There is a secondary school, club, and a medical centre in the village. As of 2005, Havuş had a population of 114. The settlement of''Tamaşalı'' and a cemetery dating back to the

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

are located within its territory.

Etymology

According to some researchers, ''havuş'' is a distorted form of the word ''ağuş''. In

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

, the word ''ağuş'' means "embrace with open arms." The village derives its name from its location, since it is situated at the foot of Mount Avuş. There is also a spring of the same name located nearby.''Encyclopedic dictionary of Azerbaijan toponyms''. In two volumes. Volume I. p. 304. Baku: "East-West". 2007. . Avuş Spring - According to information from local people, the name of the spring is from the word ''ovuc'' (the handful). It is called this due to the shape of the spring being similar to the handful. In some

Turkic languages The Turkic languages are a language family of more than 35 documented languages, spoken by the Turkic peoples of Eurasia from Eastern Europe and Southern Europe to Central Asia, East Asia, North Asia (Siberia), and West Asia. The Turkic langua ...

, ''avuş/avuj'' means "vaccine, alum". This shows the existence of alum salts in the content of the spring water.

History

According to official information dated on January 1, 1914, mostly ethnic Tatars ( Tatars in Azerbaijan), consisting of a total of 346 people in both sexes lived in the Havuş () village of Sharur-Daralayaz uyezd of

Erivan Governorate The Erivan Governorate was a province ('' guberniya'') of the Caucasus Viceroyalty of the Russian Empire, with its centеr in Erivan (present-day Yerevan). Its area was 27,830 sq. kilometеrs, roughly corresponding to what is now most of central ...

. In May 1992, a part of the population of the village was mandated to move to the other villages due to armed aggression by

Historical and archaeological monuments

Havuş Maiden's Tower

Havuş Maiden's Tower is the monument on the steep rocks east of the village in the Sharur region. The inside of the rock consists of the ending of the shaped crown. It is also called the "Maiden House" and "Maiden Tower". It is commonly said that the monument was built in the

Havuş Necropolis

Havuş Necropolis is an ancient cemetery on the mountain slope near Havuş village. As a result of exploration, researchers collected samples of material culture, especially pottery fragments. According to the Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences, the ''Havuş Necropolis'' dates from between the 2nd and 4th century CE.

Havush Sanctuary

Havush Sanctuary is a cave among the steep rocks northeast of the village. Its depth is more than 15 meters and it is 3 to 4 meters wide. The entrance was carved in the shape of a crown. There are images of several fighters holding spears, which were engraved with a method of scratching and digging at the inside of the cave. After an area of 1х1 m was cleaned out, human skeletons were found at a depth of 40 cm, and a sharp, black arm fracture was found at a depth of 1 m in the cave. The cave is thought to be an ancient human habitation, which later was converted to a sacred place based on the belief in their ancestors and their spirits.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Havus Populated places in Sharur District