Melik Haykaz Palace

39.640556°N 46.409167°E / 39.640556; 46.409167

Melik Haykaz Palace
Native names Մելիք Հայկազի ապարանք (Armenian) Həmzə Sultan sarayı (Azerbaijani)
Location	Husulu, Lachin District, Azerbaijan
Coordinates	39°38′26″N 46°24′33″E
Built	Late 15th century
Location of Melik Haykaz Palace in Azerbaijan Show map of Azerbaijan Melik Haykaz Palace (East Zangezur Economic Region) Show map of East Zangezur Economic Region

Melik Haykaz Palace (Armenian: Մելիք Հայկազի ապարանք) is a 15th-century palace in the village of Hüsülü in the Lachin District of Azerbaijan. It is believed to have been built by Melik Haykaz I (1450-1520), the first ruler of the Armenian Agachech-Kashatagh melikdom.^[1] The palace was built on a slope surrounded by a fortified wall with towers and gates. It had several floors, with Melik Haykaz's living room being located on the ground floor and his throne room being located on the second floor.^[1] Architect Artak Ghulyan describes it as a link between the architectural style of 12-14th century palaces of Khachen and Vayots Dzor provinces and the 17-18th century palaces of the meliks of Nagorno-Karabakh and Zangezur.^[2] The palace underwent renovation from 1989 to 1992.^[2] It was turned into a hotel in 2007, while the Lachin District was under the occupation of the self-proclaimed Republic of Artsakh.^[3]

Azerbaijani sources refer to the structure as Hamza Sultan Palace (Azerbaijani: Həmzə Sultan sarayı), attributing its construction to 1761.^[4]

References

1. Ghulyan, Artak. "Castles (Palaces) Of Meliks Of Artsakh And Siunik". 2. The palace of Kashatagh (15th cent.) (pl. 2-3, I) is situated on the left bank of Tzitzernavanits tributary of the Aghavno river in the district of Kashatagh (Lachin). It refers to Melik-Haykaz the First (1450 - 1520), the founder of melikal principality of Kashatagh and is dated the end of the 15th cent. It is built on the slope of a hill, on the altitude created with brace walls. It consists of three smoothly covered, adjoined rooms, a colonnade arched hall and a two-storied vaulted hall adjoined to them from the west and the melik's flat is on the first floor and the open upper hall -the summer reception-throne hall -of Melik Haykaz is on the second floor. The compositional form created with a colonnade and two-storied hall of the fortified palace is the oldest and most entire one among the similar monuments.
2. Karapetyan, Samvel (2001). Armenian Cultural Monuments in the Region of Karabakh (PDF). "Gitutiun" Publishing House of NAS RA. p. 147-149.
3. Galichian, Rouben (2012). "The Invention of History- Azerbaijan, Armenia and the Showcasing of Imagination". HayBook. In 2007 this writer stayed in a small guesthouse in the village of Melikashen, Lachin district which was the renovated and refurbished summerhouse of Melik Haykaz
4. ""Qarabağ – mədəniyyətimizin beşiyi": Həmzə Soltan sarayı - Xəbərlər". Azərbaycan Respublikası Mədəniyyət Nazirliyi. 2020-10-19. Retrieved 2022-04-13.

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