Keshikchi tower

Iravan city un­til 1828 Ira­van, Erevan from 1828 to 1936.

Yerevan since 1936.

Architec­ture

Keshikchi fort­ress was destro­yed and new buildings were built in the area where the fort­ress is located.

Keshikchi Tower, which is considered one of the historical towers of Iravan, was built by the Ottomans. A. Tabrizli gives interesting information about the construction of this fortress located on the right bank of the Zangi River and writes that after Shah Abbas I recaptured Tabriz in 1603, the Ottomans retreated to Nakhchivan and from there to Iravan under the pressure of the Shah's army. The Ottoman army that came to Iravan built another fort in the southern part of the Iravan fortress, close to it, and built a fence around it. The castle was later named "Keshikchi Gala". However, the French traveler J.Shardan gave some detailed information about the castle. He notes that there was also a small castle on the hill located on the north side (south-east) of Iravan Castle. The dis­tance between them would be a thousand steps. It is fortified with a double wall and artillery. It could accommodate 200 people. Its name is "Kechi (goat) To­wer". (It should be noted that the author who translated J. Sharde's travelogue into Azerbaijani translated "Keshikchi Castle" as “Kechi(goat) Tower”.

Fortresses were of unparalleled importance in the military and defense work of the Iravan Kha­na­te. In parti­cu­lar, the fortress­ses of Iravan and Sardarabad played a major role in preven­ting the enemy's intervention, continuing the long-term siege, and putting the enemy in a mi­serable si­tuation.