09:00, 15 August 2009

Ancient city of Tigranakert excavated in Nagorno-Karabakh

The excavation of the city of Tigranakert, founded in the 1st century BC in Artsakh (Karabakh) by Armenia Tsar Tigran the Great, resumed in mid-July, will last till the end of August.

"Today, the excavation is underway in three basic sections – the central part of the citadel, at the northern wall of the citadel and at the basilican church," Gamlet Petrosyan, Doctor of History and head of the archaeological expedition for excavating the Artsakh Tigranakert of the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography of the National Academy of Sciences of Armenia, said to journalists.

The excavation of Tigranakert is conducted since 2005, since quite plenty of historical sources had evidenced the existence of this city. However, in Soviet days Azerbaijan hampered the excavation.
The excavation evidences that it was a powerful city-fortress with perfect development, high city culture, and preserved the Armenian outlook for centuries.

Nagorno-Karabakh plans to make Tigranakert a place of pilgrimage for Armenians from all over the world and to organize a city museum there.

Author: Alvard Grigoryan

Source: Ck correspondent