The Bridge of Hin Taghaser

The Bridge of Hin Taghaser

Location

The bridge is located 2-2,5 km north-west of Taghaser village of Hadrut region, in Hin Shen rural settlement, on the bank of the Parzaget River (Fig. 1).

 

Fig. 1 The bridge of Hin Taghaser from the east, 2000, Karapetyan S․, The Bridges of Artsakh, Yerevan, 2009, p. 90.

Historical overview

Hin Taghaser rural settlement is located on the right and left banks of the Parzaget River and occupies quite a large territory. This bridge used to connect the two parts of the village and one of the roads linking the melik residence Togh with the surrounding villages as well as the settlements lying southwards of the melikdom, up to the Araks River, passed through here. The building inscription of the bridge evidences that the latter is related to the activities of the famous kin of the Dizak meliks.

Architectural-compositional examination

It is a single span vaulted bridge, built of rough stones, the arches are polished. The length is 7,6 meters, the width is 3 meters, the height is 3 meters, the span length is 3,68 meters (Fig. 2). The five-lined building inscription has been preserved on the pair of polished stones embedded in the facade of the left-side stern of the bridge (Fig. 3)։ “This bridge is in memory of Peri – the spouse of Paghtasar, the son of lord (paron) Yekan. In the year of 1763. May you say once God have mercy on them” (cf., Karapetyan 2009, 90).

Fig. 2 The bridge of Hin Taghaser from the west, 2016, photo by G․ Budaghyan.

Fig. 3 The inscribed stones of the bridge, 2000, Karapetyan S․, The Bridges of Artsakh, p. 91.

The condition before, during and after the war

Before the war, the bridge was in a good condition and it served the purpose. In 2016, one of the inscribed stones (Fig. 4, 5) fell off and was placed in the area adjacent to the bridge. The bridge was not damaged during the war. There is no information about its post-war condition.

 

Fig. 4 The fallen stone of the bridge, 2016, photo by G․ Budaghyan.

Fig. 5 The bridge without one of the inscribed stones, 2016, photo by G. Budaghyan.

Bibliography

1․ Corpus of Armenian Inscriptions, Release 5, Artsakh, compiled by S. Barkhudaryan, Yerevan, 1982.

2․ Karapetyan 2009 – Karapetyan S․, The Bridges of Artsakh, Yerevan.

The Bridge of Hin Taghaser
The Bridge of Hin Taghaser
The Bridge of Hin Taghaser
Artsakh