Hadrut Region 

Occupied since the 2020 Azeri aggression. The fate of buildings, infrastructure and monuments is unknown. The inhabitants were forced to flee.

Hadrut 

The administrative centre of the region of the same name, the town of Hadrut is 50 kilometres to the south-east of Stepanakert, at 750-800 metres above sea level. St. Harutyun Church (Holy Resurrection) of the town dates back to the 17th century. There are around three tousand monuments of history and architecture in the region, including the ruins of a fortress in the vicinity of the town. The region was renamed into Hadrut in 1939: before that it retained its historical name of Dizak. Dizapait peak is the highest point in the region at 2478 metres.

Surb Harutyun (Holy Resurrection) Church of Hadrut

The fate of the Church is unknown after the 2020 occupation of the town. 

Mets Tagher

A village in the Hadrut region, Mets Tagher is 17 kilometres north of Hadrut, 1200 metres above sea level. It is the birthplace of A. Khanperyants (1902-1950), Marshal of Aviation of the USSR, and has several churches and monasteries, as well old bridges in its environs. This part of the region, around Mets Tagher, Togh, Tumi, Mokhrenes and some other villages is extremely rich in monuments of history and architecture. 

St. Apenaprkich (Holy Saviour of All) Church, outside and interior and entrance detail.

The fate of the Church is unknown after the 2020 occupation of the region. 

Azokh

A village in the Hadrut region, 22 kilometres to the north-west, at an altitude of 700 metres above sea level, Azokh has a church, a monastery and ruins of a fortress, but is world-famous for the Azokh cave where rich layers from Early Stone Age, with man-made tools, a human mandible and bones of extinct animals going back hundreds of thousand years have been recovered. Excavations were still underway before occupation: an international team of archaeologists had made new discoveries and reported them in leading scientific journals. The NKR Government paid special attention to the work and also to protecting a large colony of bats in one of the caves. The fate of the archaeological site is unknown, and the artefacts unearthed in the museum and kept at the local museum were lost after the village was occupied in the 2020 war.

Drakhtik

As most villages in the region and the country, Drakhtik, 24 kilometres north to Hadrut, has its own church and other monuments nearby. Like in the Taghot village pictured below and as in almost all other villages they had to form their own self-defence groups in Drakhtik during the First or Karabakh Liberation War.

Persimmon (sharon fruit), an exotic fruit in many countries grows well in NK and particularly in Drakhtik, as do huge pears, right.

Taghot

The village is 15 kilometres north-west of the administrative centre, 800 metres above sea level, on the south-eastern side of the Tcharana Khoot mountain. It was subjected to Azeri attacks from 1989-1994 and had to constantly combine agricultural work with defence. 

Togh

Togh is 20 kilometres north-west to Hadrut, on the eastern side of Toghasar (Togh Mountain), 900 metres above sea level on the Ishkhanaget river. Is mentioned since the 7th century. The settlement was the seat of the Dizak meliks in the 16th century and a fortified town of 10,000 inhabitants in the 17th. It became well-known under Melik Yegan in the 18th century. Togh used to be the most famous fortified settlement before Shushi became a fortress, was a commercial centre and had a standing army. It has three churches: St. Hovhannes (18th c), St. Vardan (7th c) of Kusanats Anapat (Nuns hermitage) and St. Stepanos (13th c). Melik Yegan’s manor and the graveyard of the Dizak meliks are also in the village, although the manor is half-ruined. 

On October 17, 1991 soldiers of an Azerbaijani special police platoon stationed in the village broke into the Danielyan family house and shot all the five members of the family, including a four-year-old child. Following this gruesome act, self-defence forces were organized in the village, which, supported by other volunteers, liberated the village on October 30, 1991. 

St Vardan Church 

St Vardan is said to have been a nuns’ hermitage (Anapat) in the past, as testified by inscriptions. Prince Yegan of Dizak’s grandson Prince Bakhtam, who was murdered by Ibrahim Khan, is buried at the church.

The fate of this and other churches of Togh is unknown after the 2020 occupation of the village.

 St. Stepanos Church

The exact date of construction of St. Stepanos in Togh (judged to be in the 13th century) is not known, but an  inscription by Melik Isayi (Melik Yegan’s son) speaks of the renovation of the roof in 1747,  and the oldest inscriptions on the walls are from 1421.

St. Hovhannes Church

St. Hovhannes, the family graveyard of Melik Yeganyans, is thought to have been built by Melik Yegan. It was built on the location of an earlier church. Inscriptions stating that Melik Yegan renovated its roof in 1736 have been preserved.

Tumi

The village is 34 kilometres north-west of Hadrut, 900-1000 metres above sea level. There are numerous monuments and sites of historical interest in and around Tumi: the ruins of a 9th century fortress, a 9th century monastery and the 9th century Red Church, the St. Hovhannes Church (18th c.), sites of several old settlements, a 13th century bridge, royal baths from the 10th-18th centuries, etc.   

There are remnants of buildings near the church ruins that were called “king’s palace” and a tombstone called “king’s tombstone”. A spring between the village and the site is called “king’s spring”. Tumi had been the seat of Prince Apumuseh and the king being referred to was his son Gagik. This family was also the owner of the Gtich fortress in the 9th century, not far from Tumi.

The ruins of the 9th century Red Church (Karmir Zham or Karmir Yeghtsi), which still had an inscription dating to the year of 1000.

The fate of Tumi churches too is unknown after the 2020 occupation. 

Mokhrenes

The village is 28 kilometres north-west of Hadrut, 800 metres above sea level. It is particularly famous for the 6th-7th century Okhty Drni Vank (Monastery of Seven Doors) nearby and now in ruins, but also has other monuments, the St. Sargis Church, the Khacher site (fifteen khachkars were found there) in the village, and the St. Hanes shrine nearby.