Azernews.Az

By Amina Nazarli

Nakhchivan's mausoleums, considered as the main attraction of the Republic, have been submitted for consideration for inclusion in ISESCO (Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) Islamic World Heritage list.

Nakhichivan Autonomous Republic, a landlocked exclave of Azerbaijan, is a land with special color, which absorbed several different cultures and characteristics at once, and became something of a kind of their peculiar reconciliation.

Vasif Eyvazzade, the Secretary General of Azerbaijan National Commission for ISESCO, head of the International Cooperation Department of the Culture and Tourism Ministry presented a collection of relevant documents and a letter of Culture and Tourism Minister Abulfas Garayev to ISESCO Director General Abdulaziz Othman Altwaijri as they met on the sidelines of the 38th session of the Executive Council of ISESCO in Rabat, Morocco.

Eyvazzade gave detailed information about the monuments destroyed by the Armenians in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, saying that a special working group was created for this purpose.

Azerbaijan’s cultural and spiritual heritage is constantly exposed to aggression by the Armenians. After occupying 20 percent of Azerbaijan’s internationally-recognized territories in the early 1990s, Armenia pursues a policy of vandalism against Azerbaijan’s historical, material and cultural heritage on its own territory and on occupied Azerbaijani lands.

The Director-General of ISESCO, in turn, underlined that the organization stands by Azerbaijan in all issues.

The secretary general further said that in 2018 Azerbaijan will mark the 10th anniversary of the "Baku Process", noting the importance of ISESCO's active involvement in promotion of this event on the international arena.

Nakhchivan city, the capital of the Republic, is located 536 km from Baku, near the border with Iran. Folk legend says the city takes its beginning from the time of Noah and that Noah himself laid the foundations of the city after the Great Flood. Noah’s Mausoleum is preserved in the southern part of the city.

Being one of the most ancient cities of Azerbaijan, Nakhchivan is rich with impressive ancient mausoleums.

The Mausoleum of Yusuf ibn Kuseyr (1162), Momine Khatun Mausoleum (1186), Garabaghlar Mausoleum (14th century), Diri Baba Mausoleum and other historical sites are a small part of the historical heritage of this ancient region.

Momine Khatun Mausoleum was built in the western part of Nakhchivan by the famous Nakhchivan architect, Ajami Abubakir oglu. The mausoleum was built upon the order of Shamsaddin Eldaniz, the founder of the Azerbaijan Atabay state, over the grave of his wife Momine Khatun. Words "We're leaving, but dreams remain. We are dying, but the foundation remains" were depicted on it.

Garabaghlar Mausoleum, located in the village of Garabaghlar, Kengerli district, belongs to the 14th century. It is assumed, however, that the minaret was built at the end of the 7th or early 8th century.

The Mausoleum of Yusuf ibn Kuseyr is one of the most ancient monuments in Nakhchivan. People call it also Atababa tomb. On the epitaph of the tomb, it was written that the tomb was built by the architect Ajami Nakhchivani son of Abubakr in 1162, and the name of the person who buried there is written on the stone as well. The tomb consists of underground and eight-pointed surface. The underground is the tomb, and the surface is of monumental type like memorial monument.

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Amina Nazarli is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli

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