The Castle of Berdavan

Armenia, Armenia

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The Castle of Berdavan, also known as Berdavan Fortress or Ghalinjakar Fortress, is a medieval hilltop fortress located about 1.6 km east of the village of Berdavan in the Tavush Province of Armenia, near the border with Azerbaijan and overlooking the Koghbajur River valley.

The site sits at 664–665 meters above sea level on a triangular hill that dominates the surrounding plain, and its walls are built in a triangular plan with bay-like reinforcements and eleven semi‑cylindrical external towers that are about 2 meters in radius at the corners and 1.2–1.5 meters in the middle, tapering only slightly toward the top and ending at the same height as the walls.

Historical sources suggest that the castle was first founded in the High Middle Ages, in the 10th–11th centuries, but the present standing structure is most likely from the Late Middle Ages, around the 17th century, when the fortress underwent a radical reconstruction, and it is likely that the temple of Ghalinjakar mentioned by an anonymous 13th‑century Georgian historian refers to this same fortress.

The fortress was first mentioned in written sources in 1123, and in 1983 it was cleared and partially restored, with the upper parts of the walls and towers rebuilt, two north‑eastern towers reconstructed, and the site arranged for visitors, while the remains of a church whose walls are almost completely preserved but whose roof is missing are also present on the summit.