Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences

In accordance of Action Plans of Knowledge Foundation under Chairman of the Supreme Assembly of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic (NAR) hosted "Nakhchivan castles: in history and today" international conference on 9 July, at "Nakhchivan" University.

First, the participants visited the monument to national leader Heydar Aliyev in the center of the city and the Heydar Aliyev Museum.

Chairman of the Supreme Assembly of Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic Vasif Talibov opened the conference and welcomed guests, congratulated them on the opening of the event. "Antiquity of any people living in his history and the history living in the sources and monuments," - said Talybov and noted that, Nakhchivan land is rich with monuments, enlivening history of the Azerbaijani people. According to him, in the territory of Autonomous Republic are existed more than 1200 historical monuments, more than half of which are important for the world and the country.

The symposium "Nakhchivan in the international sources" which has taken place in 1996 has laid the studying foundation the Nakhchivan monuments on the basis of scientific and real sources, and also has determined the new directions and tasks in this sphere. One of objectives was studying of the fortresses reflecting history of heroism and culture.

Chairman of the Supreme Assembly emphasized that, the study of castles is essential from the point of view of studying the country's history, "Fortress - is not only a place of refuge or protection and defense, they are also cultural patterns that reflect the way of life, religious beliefs, traditions of statehood, culture and architecture the art of our ancestors. He also recalled the words of national leader Heydar Aliyev about the importance of Nakhchivan castles "Alinjagala and many similar monuments are an indication that, the Nakhchivan - this ancient land of Azerbaijan and the Azerbaijanis for centuries lived and worked here".

According to the Chairman of the Supreme Assembly, according to the latest research findings in the territory of Nakhchivan counted about 80 castles. Nakhchivan castles attracted attention as the first settlement, the centers of culture and art. They also have great value as an important element of urban planning culture.

Told about a peculiar architectural structure the Nakhchivan castles, the speaker has noted that, from the point of view of development of modern architectural art studying of the castles differing in the high level of construction equipment the Nakhchivan reflecting in themselves traces of Nakhchivan architectural school is extremely necessary now: "All this indicates great scientific, cultural and historical importance of the International conference " Nakhchivan fortresses: in the history and today".

The study of Nakhchivan castles makes an important contribution to the study of Azerbaijan, in particular, the history of Nakhchivan ".

At the end of his speech, the chairman of the Supreme Assembly expressed confidence that the agreements reached at the International Conference results will be useful for the national science and wished success to the conference.

Next, President of ANAS, Academician Akif Alizadeh acted. The scientist noted that, the ancient history and current socio-economic development of Nakhchivan has an important task to scientists and researchers.

He said that, the successive research conducted in recent years by scientists of ANAS institutes, in particular, the Nakhchivan Department, created the prerequisites for identifying the most ancient pages of the history of Nakhchivan, valuable scientific literature was prepared.

As a valuable contribution to the Azerbaijan studies, three-volume "History of Nakhchivan" is an encyclopedic publication serving the study of the history of Nakhchivan.

Academician noted that, in the territory of ancient Azerbaijan land of Nakhchivan has historically existed powerful states, have turned into a symbol of the old state and the struggle of our people and monuments of the city-castles.

It was noted that, the holding of this conference is very useful from the point of view of social sciences and humanities, as well as promoting patriotism traditions and stories of heroism of our people.

According to the scientist, the conference with his idea is based on the unity of the history of modernity. In terms of the honorable mission, carried out in the scientific and cultural and socio-political life of modern Azerbaijan, Nakhchivan is one of the main centers of the state independence of Azerbaijan.

In conclusion Academician A.Alizadeh expressed confidence that close cooperation between the institutions of ANAS, scientific and educational structures of NAR will play an important role in achieving new scientific results and success in the future.

Also at the conference was reported the teacher of Istanbul University, Turkey, Doctor of History Oktay Belli on "The similarity between the castles in Eastern Anatolia and Nakhchivan in the Bronze Age and early Iron Age".

He noted that, Nakhchivan is rich in monuments of world importance, and the recovery in recent years, historical monuments, such as castles serves to protect the rich cultural heritage and the study of the history of mankind.

He said that, being a bridge between the past and the present, Nakhchivan castles is also a model of heroism history of the Turkic peoples. He stressed that, the castles and material-cultural samples discovered during archeological excavations in Eastern Anatolia and Nakhchivan have similar construction features.

Next, Professor of Emory University United States of America (USA) Hilary Gopnik reported on "Fortress of Late Bronze of Sharur valley".

She has noted that, since 2008 in the Sharur valley is carried out the project of the USA-Azerbaijan. The first 4 years work was carried out on Oglangal's hill where remains of 3 main eras have been revealed. Since 2013, excavations conducted near the Maiden Tower Hill on the fields of the Middle Bronze Age and early Iron Age. In the territory were found mounds and large architectural monuments belonging to the Middle Bronze Age, as well as a fortress belonging to the late Bronze Age. This demonstrates the presence of a strong culture in Nakhchivan.

Spoke on "Nakhchivan castles: the periods and characteristics", Chairman of Nakhchivan Department of ANAS, Academician Ismayil Hajiyev noted that, among the rich of ancient, medieval and modern monuments of Nakhchivan special place belongs to the fortresses, which were used for defense purposes, religion, commerce and the arts.

It was further noted that, Supreme Majlis of NAR pays special attention to the historical monuments and castles, their restoration, research and advocacy within the country and abroad.

In conclusion, Academician Ismayil Hajiyev on behalf of the intellectuals of the autonomous republic and the international conference expressed gratitude to the Chairman of the Supreme Mejlis.

Then the conference participants were shown a documentary "Nakhchivan castles", prepared by Nakhchivan State TV.

The site "nakhchivan.az" was carried out live broadcast of the plenary session of the international conference.

On July 10 event continued its work in the Nakhchivan Department of ANAS in sections "History of of Nakhchivan castles", "Archaeological research of Nakhchivan castles", "Fortress Alinja history and position in the Middle Ages", "Nakhchivan castles in literature and folklore".

©All rights are reserved. Citing to www.science.gov.az is necessary upon using news.