KHOSHAB FORTRESS- WESTERN ARMENIA

Khoshab Fortress – Western Armenia, Vaspurakan. The Khoshab fortress was built in the southeast of Lake Van, on a plateau surrounded on all sides by high mountains.

Since the time of the Kingdom of Van (Urartu), this place was on the way from Van to Iran, and therefore the importance of this fortress was great.

According to legend, the architect who created this fortress had his hands cut off so that he would not build the same beautiful fortresses.

Therefore, they say that the Khoshab fortress is the pearl of the region, since a fortress similar to it cannot be found.

The fortress, located on a rocky massif in the north of the Khoshap River, was used by Byzantium, the Vaspurakan kingdom, the Abbasids, Seljuks, Ilkhanids, Karakoyunlu, Akkoyunlu, and Safavids. The fortress acquired its last outlines under the Ottoman Empire.

If you look at the fortress from the south side, it resembles an eagle’s nest, located on a rock. This majestic spectacle is one of the rare examples of architecture that have survived to this day.