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Perigala
Fortress
Located 15km from the
small city of Zagatala,
this extraordinary
fortress is carved into
the cliff face at a height
of 300m near the village
of Chardakhlar.
Historians have concluded
that Perigala was
built during the 3rd-5th
centuries AD under
the ancient state of
Caucasian Albania. The
castle is made of limestone
brick and consists
of three rooms and a
window, and occupies
an area of 30m 2 . To
reach it requires special
climbing equipment and
a professional guide, but
you can admire it from
a distance in Yukhari
Chardakhlar village.
Alinja
Castle
Dubbed by some as “the Machu
Picchu of Azerbaijan,” this is
a recent reconstruction of a
mountaintop fortress dating
from the 8th century in the
Julfa region of Nakhchivan. The
castle overlooks the village of
Alinja in the valley below and
was famed for its invincibility –
it took 14 years for the mighty
Mongol ruler Tamerlane to conquer
it in 1401. Centuries earlier
it had housed the treasury of
the state of the Atabays. About
2,000 steep steps lead up to
it. The climb is exhausting but
worth the effort for the spectacular
views!
Shusha
Fortress
The hilltop city of Shusha is
the pearl of Karabakh and
Azerbaijan’s cultural capital.
Surrounding the city’s historical
centre is an 18th-century fortress
built by Panah Ali Khan to
help him govern the Karabakh
Khanate (1748-1822). Its construction
was supervised by the
famous poet and vizier, Mollah
Panah Vagif, whose mausoleum
is another landmark of Shusha.
The fortress’s location on a
plateau between 1,300m and
1,600m above sea level surrounded
by rocky cliffs made it
nearly impregnable.
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