Albanian temple in the village of Gölkend (Göl)

In the village of Golkend (Gol) in the Qaranlig district of the Goycha district

Garanlig district – Martuni, Golkand village since 03.01.1946 it has been renamed Lichk. Its translation means "lake".

Architecture

The remains of the foundation of the Albanian temple in the village of Golkand are material evidence indicating the antiquity of the history of this land. The Golkand temple remained in a dilapidated state until the mass deportation of Azerbaijanis in 1988.

The Albanian temple is located in the village of Gol-kend on the shore of Lake Goycha, 8 km from the regional center, on the current Martuni-Kamo highway, approximately 800 meters west of the modern geographical location of the village. Built on a high hilly terrain, the temple was built of tuff stone. The temple was 10 meters long, 5 meters wide, and about 6 meters high with the roof covering.
There were Albanian tombstones and Oghuz monuments near the temple. During the deportation of Azerbaijanis in 1988, the remains of the temple's foundation were found.
It was noted in the "Iravan Province Summary Book" and on the 5-mile map of the Caucasus. Later, the geographical nomen of the village in the oikonomia of Golkand was shortened and recorded in Armenian sources in the form of Gol, and in 1555 it was one of the units included in the administrative division of the Chukhur-Saad beylerbeyli of the Safavid-Azerbaijani state. From the notes made on page 12 of the "Comprehensive Book of the Iravan Province" compiled in 1728, it is clear that, according to the administrative division applied by the Ottomans, the village of Gol was included in the administrative territory of the Goycha region and its annual payment to the sultan's treasury was determined in the amount of 3823 agcha. At the beginning of the 19th century, the village, which was given to the administration of the newly created Armenian province, was one of the largest settlements in the Goycha basin that was considered suitable for living at that time.
According to the lists compiled by I. Shope, in 1831 the number of Azerbaijanis reached 573 people. In 1886, while the number of Azerbaijanis in the village of Gol decreased from 573 people in 1831 to 370 people, the number of Armenians increased from zero to 284 people. In 1914, the number of Azerbaijanis was 4 times lower than in 1886 - 86 people, while the number of Armenians increased 2 times and reached 532 people. In 1918, the Azerbaijani population of the village was subjected to the Armenian genocide and was forced to leave the village.

The toponym is formed from the combination of the word "lake" in Azerbaijani, which means "a natural body of water not directly connected to the sea", and the word "village". It is a hydrotoponym. It is a structurally complex toponym. The name of the village was translated into Armenian and became Lichk (Lake).