Vagif Mausoleum
Location: Shusha city, Shusha
Condition Assessment
Status: Major damage
Located in the city of Shusha, Vagif Mausoleum is listed on the Republic of Azerbaijan's registry of heritage sites (inventory No. 367) as built during the 1970s 1 on the grave of the 18 th century Azerbaijani poet, Molla Panah Vagif. 2
The monument to Molla Panah Vagif was designed by Abdul Vahab Salamzadeh and Eldar Kanukov using traditional principles of Azerbaijani tower mausolea, yet with a distinctly modern style. This square building reaches a height of 18m. A bust of the poet was installed inside. In the center of the white marble hall, a black marble sarcophagus was placed above the grave. The side walls of the hall were decorated with lines from the poet's poems. The facade was decorated with reddish granite. The exterior surface was composed of an anodized aluminum mesh supported by granite pillars. The architects abandoned the traditional archaic division of the internal space into tiers, instead creating a single open hall. Also noteworthy is the absence of a traditional dome. Instead, the designers employed a flat reinforced concrete roof. 2
CHW compared a Hexagon image dated July 1980 3 with an image captured in September 2002 4 . While the satellite imagery shows that the frame of the monument survived, images ( a , b ) and videos from the ground show that the mausoleum sustained major damage since the Soviet period, leaving only a skeletal structure. The mausoleum remained in this damaged condition until the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh War. It has since been restore d.
Drag the swipe tool right to see the mausoleum in July 1980; 3 drag left to see the mausoleum in September 2002. 4
Between September 2002 and August 2019, the mausoleum remained in the same damaged condition.
Drag the swipe tool right to see the mausoleum in September 2002; 4 drag left to see the mausoleum in August 2019. 5
Geolocation
Supplementary Imagery
The mausoleum in Soviet era and at some point prior to the 2020 Karabakh War
The restored mausoleum after the 2020 Karabakh War
References
2 Авалов Э. В., Архитектура города Шуши и проблемы сохранения его исторического облика. [Ред. А. В. Саламзаде]. АН АзССР, Ин-т архитектуры и искусства. Баку: Элм, 1977, pp. 99-100.
3 KH-9 Hexagon, D3C1216-100138A003, July 3, 1980.
4 Google Earth/Maxar Technologies, September 27, 2002.
5 Google Earth/Maxar Technologies, August 19, 2019.
