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Nardaran Fortress

Field	Value
name	Nardaran Fortress
image	Nrdaran qalası, 1301-ci il.jpg
caption	Nardaran Fortress
location	Nardaran, Baku, Azerbaijan
coordinates
completion_date	1301
architect	Mahmud ibn Sa'd

Nardaran Fortress () is a historical and architectural monument located in the Nardaran settlement of the Sabunçu district in Baku. The fortress has been registered as a monument of global significance by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the Republic of Azerbaijan. In 2001, the Nardaran Fortress, along with other Caspian defense structures, was included in UNESCO's Tentative List.

The Nardaran Fortress consists of fortress walls enclosing a square-shaped courtyard and a cylindrical tower located at the center of the courtyard. Local stone was used in the construction of the fortress.

History

Two construction inscriptions placed on the facade of the castle keep

Two inscriptions on the facade of the fortress tower indicate that the structure was built in the Hijri year 700 (1301 AD) by architect Mahmud ibn Sad (or Mahmud ibn Said ) .

The larger inscription, located at the height of the second tier above the entrance to the tower, states:

The smaller inscription, located slightly above the first one and on the eastern side, states: "The work of Mahmud, son of Sa'd."

This architect also designed and constructed the Bibi-Heybat Mosque in Baku Bay and the Molla Ahmad Mosque in Icherisheher, built in 1300, which also bears the architect's name on its inscription.

All three monuments testify to the architect's extraordinary talent, his deep knowledge of the characteristics of fortress constructions, and his artistic imagination.

Architectural features

The Nardaran Fortress consists of fortress walls enclosing a square-shaped courtyard and a cylindrical tower situated at the center of the courtyard. The walls surrounding the courtyard are 6 meters high and are reinforced by bastioned towers on all four sides. The central tower in the courtyard has a height of 12.5 meters. Local stone was used in the construction of the fortress.

The cylindrical shape, division into three tiers topped with stone domes, the second tier's elevated entrance, and other features make the central tower of the Nardaran Fortress similar to the central tower of the Round Mardakan Fortress. Despite these similarities, the donjon of the Nardaran Fortress also has distinctive characteristics: for example, unlike other Absheron fortresses, the walls of the Nardaran donjon do not incline inward as they rise but maintain their straight form. Additionally, unlike the corbels of the Round Mardakan Fortress donjon, the donjon of the Nardaran Fortress is built from plain hewn stones without decorative elements.

References

Literature

References

(2 August 2001). "Dünya əhəmiyyətli daşınmaz tarix və mədəniyyət abidələrinin siyahısı". Azərbaycan Respublikası Mədəniyyət Nazirliyi.
"The Caspian Shore Defensive Constructions". unesco.org.

Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

buildings-and-structures-in-baku tourist-attractions-in-baku monuments-and-memorials-in-azerbaijan castles-and-fortresses-in-azerbaijan

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