Bridge of Lalazar

The bridge of Lalazar stretches over the river Vorotan—in the area of its lower course, where it is more known by the name Bargushat—in Kashatagh District, Republic of Artsakh (RMK). Built by Hovakim Lalazariants from Khendzoresk in 1867, it was later repaired by his son Simeon between 1900 and 1902: “The stone bridge over the river Bargyushat, erected by Hovakim Lalazariants from Khentzoresk Village in the 1860s, used to be in a state of dilapidation; now it has undergone overhaul and is almost ready [for further use]. The renovation was conducted by the deceased Lalazariants’s son Simeon; thanks to his financial assistance, the bridge was under repairs for exactly a year and a half, he himself supervising the work.” __11. Mshak, 1902, No. 161, p. 2 (the original in Armenian).

The years marking the foundation and renovation of the bridge of Lalazar can still be read in its construction inscription (10 lines in the Armenian original) once engraved above its left-bank pier, on its facade looking downstream. In the Soviet years, this inscription was deliberately scraped away by the Azeri vandals. To enjoy using a bridge built by the Armenians, at the same time obliterating the words of commemoration left by its founders—a mode of behaviour so typical of Azeris and Turks (cf. the bridges of Shamakhi, Vagharshavan, Moks, Shatakh and many other places). The spans of the bridge are 13.84 and 12.66 metres in length. Passage width: 4.31 metres; height above water level: 9.10 metres; geographical coordinates: N 39°26°27.66,°° E 46°27°45.90.°°