Damirchilar Mausoleum No.1
Location: Damirchilar, Qubadli
Condition Assessment
Status: Indeterminate
Damirchilar Mausoleum Number 1, located in the village of Damirchilar of the Qubadli district, is on the list of heritage sites of the Republic of Azerbaijan (inventory No. 308) as an architectural monument of national significance. 1 It is a 14 th -century mausoleum. 1,2
The mausoleum is located in an orchard on the left bank of a small stream that flows near the village of Damirchilar. It is octagonal with a width of 1.9m, and rests on a two-stage socle made of large stones. The outer surfaces of all eight faces are covered with shallow niches and tri-lobed semicircular arches. In the center of the arches of the eastern and western faces is a small, narrow window. In the northern facade, there is a doorway covered with a single large stone. The bluish-gray stones of the cornice create the impression of an encircling belt, serving as a line between the dome and the structure's main volume. The mausoleum is covered with an octagonal dome. Facing slabs have survived in places on the edges of the dome. The walls of the interior are made of finely hewn stone. In the southern wall, there is a mihrab in the form of a small, shallow niche. On the western wall, near the base of the dome, there is a stone carved with an image of the sun. The same image is on the outer southwestern face in the form of a round rosette covered with pointed petals. The dome rests directly on the cornice, capped by a stone in the shape of a polygonal rosette. The internal height of the mausoleum from the floor to the top of the dome is 4.5m. There are no inscriptions on the exterior or interior. Scholars have dated the structure to the 13th-14th centuries. 3,4
The mausoleum is not clearly visible on KH-9 Hexagon imagery dated July 1980 5 , which makes it difficult to assess its condition in the late Soviet years. Images and videos post-dating the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh War show that the dome of the mausoleum is damaged. This impact on the structure is not discernible on the available satellite imagery. Given the absence of late Soviet images of the monument, it is impossible to determine whether the damage took place before or after the First Nagorno-Karabakh War. The dome of the mausoleum appears in its damaged condition in a book published in 2010 8 (see Supplementary Images). It is possible that the damage took place after the First Nagorno-Karabakh War, but without late Soviet imagery, this cannot be determined with certainty. CHW therefore assesses the status of the monument as indeterminate. It has either remained unchanged since the late Soviet years, or has sustained minor damage.
On satellite imagery captured in April 2016 6 the mausoleum appears to be in good condition.
Drag the swipe tool right to see the mausoleum in July 1980 5 ; drag left to see the mausoleum in April 2016. 6
The mausoleum appears to have remained in this condition until the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War.
Drag the swipe tool right to see the mausoleum in April 2016 6 ; drag left to see the mausoleum in March 2020. 7
Geolocation
Supplementary Images
The mausoleum at some point prior to 2010.
The plan and sketch of the mausoleum
References
2 Усейнов М., Бретаницкий Л., Саламзаде А., История архитектуры Азербайджана. Акад. наук АзССР. Ин-т архитектуры и искусства. Москва: Госстройиздат, 1963, p. 158.
3 Щеблыкин И. П., Мавзолеи бассейна реки Акера-чай, in Архитектура Азербайджана: эпоха Низами. [отв. ред. С. А. Дадашев, М. А. Усейнов]. Москва: Баку: Государственное архитектурное издательство, 1947, pp. 158-159.
4 Усейнов М., Бретаницкий Л., Саламзаде А., История архитектуры Азербайджана. Акад. наук АзССР. Ин-т архитектуры и искусства. Москва: Госстройиздат, 1963, p. 159.
5 KH-9 Hexagon, D3C1216-100138A005, July 3, 1980.
6 Google Earth and Maxar Technologies, April 19, 2016.
7 Google Earth/CNES/Airbus, March 2, 2020.
8 The Islamic Monuments of the Armenian Architecture of Artsakh. RAA, Yerevan, 2010. p. 24.
