Amberd castle

It is a 10th-century fortress located 2,300 meters (7,500 ft) above sea level, on the slopes of Mount Aragats at the confluence of the Arkashen and Amberd rivers in the province of Aragatsotn, Armenia. The name translates to "fortress in the clouds" in Armenian.

History

The site started as a Stone Age settlement. During the Bronze Age and Urartian periods. Some sources say that Amberd used to be a summer residence for kings. The castle of Amberd and some sections of walls were constructed in the 7th century as a possession of the noble House of Kamsarakan family.

Amberd was invaded in the 1070s by the Seljuq Turks who turned it into a military base. In 1197, a joint army of Armenians and Georgians led by General Zakare Zakarian liberated the fortress. Under Zakarian control during the 12th and 13th centuries, the walls were structurally reinforced and the castle and outer buildings were renovated.

The noble Vacheh Vachutian purchased Amberd in 1215, making it a key defensive site in the region. Within a short period, the Mongols captured and destroyed the fortress in the year 1236. The site remained abandoned and untouched until the 20th century when reconstruction and archaeological excavations began.

Architecture

The fortress had been built that is now archaic. Its walls are constructed of roughly hewn basalt blocks set in place with mortar. Tower walls are inclined to have made it easier to fire on invaders below. The interior of the castle had three stories, each floor separated from one another by wood planks clinched on logs. There were five rooms in the first and second floor, each arranged in a row where one would enter each room through the previous room. An irregularly shaped hallway was separated from the three internal rooms by an internal wall.

Today, a large portion of the fortification walls, bathhouse, and church remain intact.