Kashatagh

Kashatagh was the centre of an Armenian melik principality whose ruling family also maintained a seat at Khnatsakh. Between the fifteenth and eighteenth centuries the Melik-Haykazyans exercised a measure of local autonomy. Their lineage was associated with the Khaghbakyan-Proshyan princely house. A surviving mansion near the Tsitsernavanits tributary of the Aghavno River is attributed to Melik Haykaz I in the late fifteenth century.

Built on an artificial terrace against a rocky hillside, the residence combined domestic rooms, ceremonial space and an enclosing wall. Architectural investigation identified three adjoining halls fronted by an arched porch. A two-storey structure on the western side placed living accommodation below an upper reception chamber, covered by a barrel vault. These arrangements gave the melik a setting for household life and the reception of visitors within one compound. The residence belongs to a wider tradition of melik mansions in Artsakh and Syunik, while its particular plan preserves the material setting of Kashatagh's local ruling house.