Nagorno Karabakh Republic “The Mountainous Black Garden”
By: Exotic Armenia Tours

Nagorno Karabakh is an enigma wrapped up inside the Caucasus. Having an extremely rugged mountainous surface covered by dense forests, it has the most beautiful landscape in the whole Caucasus. It is a ‘country’ recognised by no-one. Even the name is something of a mystery, being made up from words of three different languages: nagorno means mountainous in Russian, kara means black in Turkish and bakh means garden in Persian. The name “Mountainous Black Garden” was given to it because of too dense forests where it’s almost dark inside. To confuse things further, the locals refer to their region as Artsakh which is the ancient Armenian name of the region with over 5000-year old history. While there exist many questions about Nagorno-Karabakh and its political status, the beauty and cultural richness of this remote mountain landscape are undeniable. Up steep cliffs, wedged into narrow valleys and hidden in remote forests there are hundreds of moss-covered churches and monasteries, and while most of them are abandoned, a few are being renovated and reopened.

Shushi mentioned as a fortress in the 9^th century by historians. It’s on top of a huge rock reminding a frozen wave. Because of its impregnable location it has received the name “the eagles’ nest”. The fortress had never been taken by force in the course of its history till 1992 May 9 when the Karabakh Armenian soldiers climbed up the huge rock and liberated the historic capital of Artsakh.

The “pearl” or “encyclopedia of Armenian architecture”, the fairy tale monastery of Gandzasar (13^th century) meaning a “hilltop treasure” as it’s nestled on a mountains where lots of gold and gems were found. The unknown architect created a miraculous dome with images of Adam and Eve, baby Jesus, St. Mary, angels, birds, bulls, the duke’s family who sponsored the construction of that fabulous miracle of architecture which could impress the onlooker and express the might of the Khachen principality.

Tigranakert Hellenistic city archaeological site. It used to be an Armenian city dating back to the Hellenistic period. It is one of several former cities in the Armenian plateau with the same name, named in honor of the Armenian king Tigranes the Great. Archaeologists date the foundation of Tigranakert to a period in the 80s BC, during the reign of King Tigranes the Great. Archaeologists have uncovered two of the main walls of the city, as well as Hellenistic-style towers and an Armenian church dating to fifth to seventh centuries.

Amaras Monastery dating back to the 4^th century. At the beginning of the 5th c. the creator of the Armenian alphabet Mesrop Mashtots opened here the first school. To this day it’s possible to see the Armenia alphabet letters on the ceiling of Amaras school engraved for the students bored from the classes. Even staring at the ceiling they could see the Armenian script. This amazing monastery has survived many invasions throughout its 1700 year old history.

"We and Our Mountains" -the national landmark of Nagorno Karabakh.

About the blogger: Exotic Armenia Tours is a Tour operator to Armenia, Nagorno Karabakh and Georgia Follow us on Twitter , Join us on Facebook Our Website http://www.exoticarmeniatours.com