General

The archaeological research at Tigranakert of Artsakh was the most extensive archaeological project ever initiated in Artsakh. It provided an opportunity to present Artsakh-Utik not as a peripheral region of Armenia but as a part of a much wider civilizational context, and one of its military, economic, and cultural centers was Tigranakert.

The archaeological traces of the city of Tigranakert, founded in Artsakh by the Armenian king Tigranes II the Great (95–55 BC), were verified by the Artsakh expedition of the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography of the NAS RA (National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia) in 2005. The expedition carried out extensive archaeological excavations in and around the city between 2006 and 2020.

The results of the archaeological research indicate the city is the organizer of a vast steppe and river valley-forest region. In addition to the military, the marked artisanal nature of the city and the irrigated agricultural-viticultural nature of the surrounding area are obvious. The canal of Tigranakert, stretching for kilometers, is the most complex hydrotechnical structure in the region.

The “rectangular tower—zigzag wall—round tower” fortification system of Tigranakert is a perfect, standard manifestation of Hellenistic fortification. The obvious predominance of the Hellenistic beginning conditions the extensive civilizational character of Tigranakert.

Christian Tigranakert stands out with remarkable manifestations of the landscape: the creation of sacred dominants on the tops of the two mountains crowning the valley of Tigranakert; the conversion of an ancient burial structure located in the near rock of the Khachenaget River bank into a monastery; and the creation of an early Christian square in the Central Quarter of the city.