Tombstones in the village of Naraduz

In the village of Naraduz, Kavar district, Goycha district

Kavar district was renamed Kamo on April 13, 1959, and the village of Naraduz was renamed Noradus.

Architecture

Kavar district was renamed Kamo on April 13, 1959, and the village of Naraduz was renamed Noradus.

The oldest cross stone in the Nareduz cemetery dates back to the 10th century. The coexistence of Albanian cross stones from the 13th century and Muslim tombstones and stone steles from the early 14th century in this cemetery confirms that the local Albanian population in the region converted from Christianity to Islam at the end of the 13th century and the beginning of the 14th century. However, the tombstones that are valued as valuable works of art in terms of artistic design and richness are those from the 14th–16th centuries.
Those stones contain Islamic and Christian elements, as well as various elements such as an eight-pointed star, which are never found in historical khachkars, which are purely connected with the historical traditions of Azerbaijani Turks and are examples of Armenian artistic carving, such as inscriptions in the Arabic alphabet, Islamic motifs, and Azerbaijani names and surnames. Armenians, who try to present these rich Azerbaijani monuments to the world with their own names, try to explain this by saying that Armenian culture was exposed to the influence of Islamic and Turkish culture due to the subordination of Armenia to the Safavids during the period when the khachkars were created. It should be noted that the same situation is reflected in the khachkars in the Albanian cemetery of Chugha. However, historical sources indicate that those territories under the rule of the Safavids were not called Armenia, but Chukhur Saad province, and that the population was almost entirely Azerbaijani Turks. The names of the main authors of the Muslim and Christian tombstones in the cemetery are also known. They are Kari Kazim oghlu (1551–1610), his contemporaries Arakeli and Maliksad. The Armenians, on the other hand, present these names written in the Azerbaijani language in the Arabic alphabet as Kiram Kaz-mog, Arakel and Meliset.

The village of Naraduz has been the homeland of the Turkic-Oguz tribes and the Caucasian Albanians since ancient times. This is also confirmed by the monuments from ancient times there. The total area of ​​the cemetery is about seven hectares and there were about a thousand graves here. Most of the tombstones are decorated with unique, delicate and beautiful patterns.