Western Azerbaijan Heritage

Ashaghi Shorja was a village in­habited only by Azerbaijanis in the Novo-Bayazid uezd of the Iravan Go­vernorate, and later in the Ba­sarkecher (Var­denis) district. The meaning of the name of the village is salty place

It has been cal­led Vardenis dist­rict since 1969

Architec­ture

Currently, like other Azer­baija­ni villages, the cemetery of Ashag­hi Shorja village has been destroyed and the village has become a ruin

Ashagi Shorja was a village inhabited only by Azerbaijanis in the Novo-Ba­yazid (later in the Basarkecher (Var­denis)) district of the Iravan Gover­no­rate. There was a church belonging to Albanians and a number of historical monuments in the territory of the village. During the archaeological excavation in the Uzunlar area, jar graves belonging to Albanians were found. Many of these tombs were richly decorated with images of horses, rams and other figures. During the excavation, tombstones belonging to the Turkic-Oghuz tribes were also disco­ve­red in the cemetery. All this shows that the area is an ancient homeland inha­bited by Turkic tribes. In 1918, Ar­me­nians committed massacres in Ashag­hi Shorja. In November-December 1988, all existing Azerbaijani villages in Arme­nia were deported from their historical-ethnic lands