Shusha

Also known as Panahabad

Shusha (, ) or Shushi () is a city in Azerbaijan, in the region of Nagorno-Karabakh. Situated at an altitude of 1,400–1,800 metres (4,600–5,900 ft) in the Karabakh mountains, the city was a mountain resort in the Soviet era.

AI overview

Shusha is a city in Azerbaijan located in the mountainous Nagorno-Karabakh region at a high altitude of 1,400–1,800 metres. During the Soviet era, it functioned as a mountain resort destination.

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Place details

Locality: Şuşa
Region: Shusha
Country: Azərbaycan
Population: 18,662
Timezone

Travel guide

Understand

Shusha was originally an Azeri-majority city, although it grew to have a significant Armenian majority until the 1920 Shusha massacre occurred—a targeted pogrom carried out by Azerbaijani forces that resulted in the deaths of up to 20,000 Armenian civilians. In the 1990s the Azeri population was expelled following the First Nagorno-Karabakh war. After the war, the city was under the ethnic Armenian Nagorno-Karabakh Republic and was partly rehabilitated. Following the city's recapture by Azerbaijan during the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War in 2020, large scale reconstruction work is ongoing to revive the city as the capital of Azerbaijani art, poetry, and music, although reports have stated that Armenian heritage sites (such as Saint John Baptist Church) have been purposely destroyed.

Get in

As of 2021, it is no longer possible to reach Shusha from Armenia or Stepanakert.

As of Aug 2022, visits from the rest of Azerbaijan are reportedly possible only as part of a group with a permit.

Get around

It is easy enough to walk around Shushi. The streets of the lower part of the town are not yet paved. Therefore, expect a lot of mud if it is wet.

Taxis are usually available in the area near and east of Ghazanchetsots Cathedral.

See

150px|thumbnail|Govhar Agha Mosque

thumbnail|Qarqar Canyon under Shusha

Eat

thumb|upright=.8|Azerbaijani poetess Khurshidbanu Natavan

Travel guide from Wikivoyage (CC BY-SA 4.0)

~46 min read

Article

21 sections

Contents

Etymology
History
Foundation
Conflict with the Qajars
Within the Russian Empire
Early 20th century
Soviet era
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
1988–1994 Nagorno-Karabakh war
2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war
Culture
Museums
Demographics
Economy and tourism
Twin towns – sister cities
Notable natives
See also
Notes
References
Sources
External links

Most sources date Shusha's establishment to the 1750s by Panah Ali Khan, founder of the Karabakh Khanate, coinciding with the foundation of the fortress of Shusha. Some attribute this to an alliance between Panah Ali Khan and Melik Shahnazar, the local Armenian prince () of Varanda. In these accounts, the name of the town originated from a nearby Armenian village called Shosh or Shushikent (see for alternative explanations). Conversely, some sources describe Shusha as an important center within the self-governing Armenian melikdoms of Karabakh in the 1720s, and others say the plateau was already the site of an Armenian fortification. From the mid-18th century to 1822, Shusha was the capital of the Karabakh Khanate. The town became one of the cultural centers of the South Caucasus after the Russian conquest of the Caucasus region from Qajar Iran in the first half of the 19th century. Over the course of the 19th century, the town grew in size to become a city, and was home to many Armenian and Azerbaijani intellectuals, poets, writers and musicians (including Azerbaijani ashiks, mugham singers and kobuz players).