Meghri Mets Tagh

Mets Tagh as a settlement with great architectural and ethnographic value was mentioned by the 19th c. European travelers Dubois (1834), Raddy (1890) and Chantre (1890).

History

Meghri Mets Tagh (Great District) lies on the left bank of the Meghraget River. The center resembles an amphitheater built around the district church.

It is where the public and administrative buildings are situated. The narrow winding roads and alleys were remarkable for balconies projecting from the external walls of houses and bridge-shaped structures the interior of which had column capitals supporting the flat roofs, carved doors, fireplaces and ceiling ornaments.

Mets Tagh as a settlement with great architectural and ethnographic value was mentioned by the 19th c. European travelers Dubois (1834), Raddy (1890) and Chantre (1890).

Meghri Mets Tagh is rich in historic monuments. The most valuable is Meghri Fortress, believed to have built in the late 10th c. or early 11th c. The fortress was first mentioned in 1083. It was repeatedly ruined during wars and later restored.

The 18th c. saw extensive reconstruction of the building which took an active role in the liberation struggle led by Davit Bek. Meghri Fortress hems in Mets Tagh on the north side with 6 two-story powerful towers, which enclose the main district in a horseshoe-shaped line.

The towers have circular and rectangular plans and soar above mountain peaks. The tower walls get narrower on top to ensure their steadiness.

The fortress lacks outer walls. The mountain ranges serve as natural defenses, making the fortress a unique structure in Armenia. It is also remarkable for being the only fortification in the country to have been rebuilt for artillery. The fortress guarded not only Mets Tagh, but the whole settlement.

St. Astvatsatsin (Holy Mother of God), built in 1673, is a domed basilica with four pylons. The interior is adorned with 19th c. frescoes. The church is built from basalt, except for the soaring brick dome with its eight-sided drum.

Other famous monuments of Mets Tagh are the drinking fountain in Paramaz street (19th c.) and Azaria Adelyan (Danielyan) school building (1882) with the writer’s statue installed in 1903.