Castle in the village of Zolahach (Zolaghac)

In the village of Zolahach (Zolaghaj) of the Garanlig district of the Goycha district

Garanlig district – Martuni, Zolakhach village, since 03.01.1935, Zolakar

Architecture

Until the deportations that took place in 1987–1991, the ruins of the ancient fortress remained in the area where it was located.

The historical fortress is located in the territory of the village of Zolagach, located southeast of Lake Goycha, 12 km from the village of Ashagi Garanlig (now the city of Martuni), in the northeast, 4 km southwest of Kalagyran (now the village of Zovinar). The fortress is also attributed by Armenian scholars to the middle of the second millennium BC. The observation of the village and the surrounding areas from the fortress on a high hill is material evidence that provides the basis for scientific considerations about the 3500-year history of the construction of Zolagach by the Oghuz Turks. Russian sources also note that Zolagach was a village in the Yeni Bayazid district of the Iravan province of Tsarist Russia, in the present-day Garanlig (Martuni) district. The name of the village of Zolagach is found in the list compiled by I. Chopin. In 1831, the population of Zolagach, consisting only of Azerbaijanis, was 128 people. In the data for 1873, Zolagach was already included in the list of mixed settlements: 75 Armenians and 153 Azerbaijanis. After this date, the demographic balance rapidly changed in favor of Armenians due to the Armenians brought from Turkey. In 1897, the number of Armenians in the village was almost 3 times higher than the number of Azerbaijanis: 286 Armenians and 107 Azerbaijanis. During the massacres committed by Dashnak troops in Goycha in 1918, 131 Azerbaijanis of the village were subjected to genocide, and the survivors left the village. After 1922, the Azerbaijanis who returned to the village and restored their lives there were resettled to Azerbaijan in 1948.

The Zolaghaj fortress played a role of defense for Azerbaijanis, at the same time from Armenian and other foreign attacks. The ancient fortress has a significant value as an example of the historical heritage of Western Azerbaijan.