Jafar GIYASI Doctor of Architecture Corresponding Member of ANAS

Erivan, one of Azerbaijan’s biggest medieval cities, is turning 600 this year. According to encyclopedic scholar and traveler Evliya Celebi, wealthy merchant Haji Khan established a large settlement on the banks of the River Zengi in 1407. Almost 100 years later, on the order of Shah Ismail Safawi, Vizier Ravangulu Khan built a massive fortress with high walls and towers here. It took seven years to builD the fortress. The Revan fortress was further strengthened by Turkish General Ferhad Pasha in 1582-1583.

İn accordance with Azerbaijani town-planning tradition, Erivan was established on a plateau between the Zengi and Girkhbulag rivers. Almost square-like in shape, the fortress was 850 meters long and 790 meters wide. It had double walls on three sides and a single wall in its west, facing a steep bank of the Zengi river. The total length of fortress walls was 4.5 kilometers. They were surrounded by trenches filled with river water. The fortress had three gates: Tabriz, Shirvan and Korpu. The Red Bridge, built in 1679, linked the fortress with the opposite bank of the Zengi. The bridge was controlled from the Kechi tower built on a hill. Over time, the city expanded beyond the walls. It had three parts called Sheher, Tepebashi and Demirbulag. French traveler J. Tavernier, who visited Erivan in 1655, said the place was only inhabited by Muslims. Another French traveler, J. Shardenne, who visited Erivan shortly afterwards, said there were about 300 houses in the fortress where “only pure Safavids (Turks) live.” The palace complex located in the northeastern section of the fortress was a valuable example of palace architecture of the Safavid and Gajar epoch. As a result of intense Armenianization of the city and its surroundings by the Russians, which started in 1828, there were only eight mosques left in Erivan by the early 20th century. The oldest of these was the Serdar Mosque built on Shah Ismail’s order in 1510. It was at this mosque that Armenians locked up and burned several hundred Azerbaijanis in 1818. Armenians also destroyed the Juma Mosque built in 1606. The Rajab Pasha mosque built in 1725 was subsequently knocked down and an Orthodox church built in its place. Today, there is only the Hussein Ali Khan mosque, known as the Blue Mosque, in Erivan. A busy trade center, Erivan had plenty of caravansaries and a large number of bridges, which were a wonderful example of medieval Azerbaijani architecture. Erivan’s system of settlement in blocks and housing architecture were fully based on Azerbaijani tradition. Many of the current residential buildings were built and owned by wealthy Azerbaijanis.