Museums and Collections > The Historical and Geological Museum of Martuni: Branch of the Artsakh State Geological Museum

The Historical and Geological Museum of Martuni: Branch of the Artsakh State Geological Museum

History

The Historical and Geographical Museum of Martuni was established in 1981 by Khachatur Grigori Stepanyan. Founded during the late Soviet period, the museum operated for approximately two decades in the House of Culture of Martuni. In the late 1990s, it was relocated to a building on Spandaryan Street, part of which—initially functioning as a kindergarten—was allocated to the museum's needs.

The museum was located at 3 G. Nzhdeh Street in Martuni.

As of September 2023, Martuni has been under Azerbaijani occupation.

The collection

Certain items and registration logs from the museum's collection went missing during the First Artsakh War. Following its relocation to the new building, the museum's exhibitions were revised and expanded to include the following sections:

  • Nature
  • Archaeology
  • Ethnography
  • Medieval Sculpture
  • Modern History

The most significant alteration was made in the final section, where, in addition to the Soviet period narrative, a new feature was added—an area dedicated to the participants of the Artsakh Liberation Struggle from Martuni.

At the time, the museum's main collection comprised 2,136 items, while its auxiliary collection contained 1,070 items.

The activity of the museum before the war

Despite its modest exhibition conditions, the museum consistently attracted visitors. The primary audience comprised residents of the city of Martuni and the surrounding villages—particularly schoolchildren. Visitors also arrived from other regions of Artsakh and Armenia, while fewer came from abroad.

On various public and international holidays, as well as on professional observance days, the museum organized a range of events.

The condition after the war

In September 2023, before the forced displacement of Armenians from Artsakh, the museum's exhibits were packed into crates to transfer them to a safe location. However, during Azerbaijan's military aggression that month, these crates remained inside the museum. At present, the condition of both the museum and its collection remains unknown.

The museum and international law regulations

As with any cultural property, the international legal-legislative basis for the protection of museums and collections is the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict and its two protocols (1954 and 1999). According to Article 4 of the 1954 Hague Convention, any acts of vandalism, theft, robbery, misappropriation, hostilities, and reprisals against cultural heritage are prohibited. Furthermore, according to the first Hague Protocol of 1954, it is forbidden to destroy cultural or spiritual values in occupied territories. The Second Hague Protocol of 1999 reaffirms this requirement and classifies such acts as international crimes under Article 15. The destruction of cultural values is also prohibited by four international conventions and protocols on the protection of war victims, the laws and customs of war established in the Geneva Conventions of August 12, 1949, as well as relevant UN resolutions and human rights treaties.

Fig. 1 The general views of the museum’s permanent exhibition, photo from the RealKarabakh page.

Fig. 2 The general views of the museum’s permanent exhibition, photo from the RealKarabakh page.

Fig. 3 The general views of the museum’s permanent exhibition, photo from the RealKarabakh page.

Fig. 4 The general views of the museum’s permanent exhibition, photo from the RealKarabakh page.

Fig. 5 The general views of the museum’s permanent exhibition, photo from the RealKarabakh page.

Fig. 6 The general views of the museum’s permanent exhibition, photo from the RealKarabakh page.