House of Khurshidbanu Natavan

{{Infobox museum

| name = House of Khurshidbanu Natavan

| native_name = {{langx|az|Xurşidbanu Natəvanın evi}}

| native_name_lang = az

| image = Palace of Khurshidbanu Natavan, 2021.jpg

| image_size = 250px

| caption = The house in 2021

| map_type = Azerbaijan

| map_size = 250px

| coordinates = {{coord|39|45|53.7|N|46|45|3.07|E|display=inline,title}}

| former_name =

| established = 18th–19th centuries

| dissolved =

| location = Shusha, Azerbaijan

| type = House-museum

| architect = Karbalayi Safikhan Karabakhi

| owner = Government of Azerbaijan

| website =

}}

The House of Khurshidbanu Natavan ({{langx|az|Xurşidbanu Natəvanın evi}}), also known as the Palace of Natavan, Daughter of the Khan ({{langx|az|Xan qızı Natəvanın sarayı}}), is an 18th or 19th-century historical and architectural monument, and a museum in Shusha, Azerbaijan.

The three-storey house, being one of the first residential houses in Shusha, belonged to the 19th-century Azerbaijani speaking poet Khurshidbanu Natavan. During Soviet rule, it served as a music and art school, and later, as a house-museum dedicated to Natavan. The building was heavily damaged when the Armenian forces captured Shusha in 1992, during the First Nagorno-Karabakh War, while the Azerbaijani authorities accused the Armenian forces of looting the building.

The building has an architecture atypical for the other residential buildings in Shusha. Constructed with stone, and in a smaller scale, brick, it is filled with frescoes and alabaster carvings. The house also has a large garden, which houses various smaller buildings intended for home service.

History

The House of Khurshidbanu Natavan is one of the first residential houses in Shusha, built by the Azerbaijani architect Karbalayi Safikhan Karabakhi in the 18th or 19th century for Khurshidbanu Natavan, an Azerbaijani poet.{{Sfn|Avalov|1977|page=60}}{{Sfn|Kaziyeva|1960|p=92}}

On Bulbul's initiative, the People's Commissariat of Education of the Azerbaijani SSR established the Shusha Music School on 10 October 1932. The school operated in the building, and in 1984, it got renamed the Niyazi Children's Art School. In 1987, the Soviet government restored the building and created the house-museum of Khurshidbanu Natavan, a branch of the National museum of Azerbaijan literature named after Nizami Ganjavi, with its first director being Namig Babayev.{{Cite web |url=http://www.medeniyyettv.az/az/news/1115/xursidbanu-natevanin-ev-muzeyi |title=Xurşidbanu Natəvanın ev-muzeyi |trans-title=House-museum of Khurshidbanu Natavan |date=9 October 2020 |access-date=29 January 2021 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20210129091434/http://www.medeniyyettv.az/az/news/1115/xursidbanu-natevanin-ev-muzeyi |archive-date=29 January 2021 |work=Madaniyyat TV |language=az |url-status=live }}

On 8 May 1992, during the First Nagorno-Karabakh War,{{Sfn|Durch|1996|p=444}} the Armenian forces captured Shusha, and its Azerbaijani population of about 15,000 people, was forced to flee.{{Sfn|Goble|2020|p=2}} Most of the city came into ruins,{{Cite news |last=de Waal |first=Thomas |author-link=Thomas de Waal |url=https://iwpr.net/global-voices/shusha-armenians-recall-their-bittersweet |title=Shusha Armenians Recall Their Bittersweet Victory |work=Institute for War and Peace Reporting |date=10 May 2002 |access-date=28 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151005214539/https://iwpr.net/global-voices/shusha-armenians-recall-their-bittersweet |archive-date=5 October 2015 }} including the building,{{Cite news |url=https://azertag.az/ru/xeber/Dvorec_Xurshidbanu_Natavan_podvergshiisya_armyanskomu_vandalizmu-1673493 |title=Дворец Хуршидбану Натаван, подвергшийся армянскому вандализму |trans-title=Khurshidbanu Natavan Palace, vandalized by the Armenians |work=Azerbaijan State News Agency |date=24 December 2020 |access-date=28 January 2021 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20210128135606/https://azertag.az/ru/xeber/Dvorec_Xurshidbanu_Natavan_podvergshiisya_armyanskomu_vandalizmu-1673493 |archive-date=28 January 2021 |language=ru |url-status=live }}{{Cite news |url=https://news.day.az/society/1290853.html |title=Дом Хуршудбану Натаван до и после армянской оккупации - ФОТО |trans-title=House of Khurshudbanu Natavan before and after the Armenian occupation - PHOTOS |work=Day.az |date=19 November 2020 |access-date=28 January 2021 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20210128135818/https://news.day.az/society/1290853.html |archive-date=28 January 2021 |language=ru |url-status=live }} and Shusha turned into a ghost town.{{Cite web |url=https://www.bbc.com/russian/features-54796981 |title=Шуша - цитадель Карабаха: почему она важна для азербайджанцев и армян |trans-title=Shusha is the citadel of Karabakh: why is it important for Azerbaijanis and Armenians |date=7 November 2020 |access-date=28 January 2021 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20201109161012/https://www.bbc.com/russian/features-54796981 |archive-date=9 November 2020 |work=BBC Russian Service |language=ru }} According to the Azerbaijani officials, the Armenian forces destroyed and looted hundreds of paintings, carpets, miniatures, souvenirs and archaeological samples collected in the museum.{{Cite web |url=http://mct.gov.az/az/umumi-xeberler/13247 |title="Qarabağ – mədəniyyətimizin beşiyi": Xurşidbanu Natəvanın evi |trans-title="Karabakh – the cradle of our culture": The House of Khurshidbanu Natavan |date=8 October 2020 |access-date=28 January 2021 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20210128135007/http://mct.gov.az/az/umumi-xeberler/13247 |archive-date=28 January 2021 |work=Azerbaijani Ministry of Culture |language=az |url-status=live }}

Azerbaijan recaptured Shusha after a three-day long battle on 7 November 2020, during the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War.{{Cite web |url=https://www.rferl.org/a/armenian-opposition-requests-talks-with-pm-pashinian-amid-fighting-around-key-nagorno-karabakh-town/30938142.html |title=Key Town In Nagorno-Karabakh Falls As Azerbaijan Presses Forward in Breakaway Region |date=9 November 2020 |access-date=29 November 2020 |work=RFE/RL |archive-url=https://archive.today/20201129194304/https://www.rferl.org/a/armenian-opposition-requests-talks-with-pm-pashinian-amid-fighting-around-key-nagorno-karabakh-town/30938142.html |archive-date=29 November 2020 |language=en }}{{Cite web |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/armenia-azerbaijan-shushi-int-idUSKBN27P1WY |title=Ethnic Armenian forces confirm loss of Karabakh's second city, say enemy nearing capital |access-date=29 November 2020 |date=9 November 2020 |work=Reuters |archive-url=https://archive.today/20201129194316/https://www.reuters.com/article/armenia-azerbaijan-shushi-int-idUSKBN27P1WY |archive-date=29 November 2020 |language=en }}{{Cite web |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/11/9/ethnic-armenians-confirm-loss-of-shusha-to-azeri-forces |title=Ethnic Armenians confirm loss of Shusha to Azeri forces |access-date=28 November 2020 |date=9 November 2020 |work=Al Jazeera |language=en }}

Architecture

File:House of Natavan before occupation.jpg

The house's southern wall is made of brick, and the rest are made of stone. The building has a rectangular shape with dimensions of 24x12,5 meters. The height of the building from the ground to the roof is 8.5 meters. There are seven rooms dedicated to home service and the servants on the first floor of the building. There are three entry gates on the building's southern side. The middle-gate leads to a hallway, while the other two lead to the side rooms. There are two groups of rooms on the ground floor, one of them includes four rooms and the other three rooms. There is a hallway connecting these groups of rooms.{{Sfn|Sarkisov|Alizadeh|1950|p=127}}

The access to the second floor is achieved by a stone staircase built into the house's western wall. There is a spacious living room in the centre of the second floor, and there are four living rooms around it. The hall is illuminated on both sides by large mesh windows measuring 5x3,5 meters along its entire length. There are two more windows around the large door situated in the floor's southern wall. The height of the hall is about 5 meters. The other four rooms' height, under which the balconies are located, is slightly lower. Frescoes and alabaster carvings were used to decorate the interior of the hallway.{{Sfn|Sarkisov|Alizadeh|1950|p=127}}

The House of Khurshidbanu Natavan has an architecture atypical for the other residential buildings in Shusha. The southern facade of the building is divided by vertically placed ridges. There are wider ridges on the frames of the windows located in the building's second floor. The house is resistant to aridity due to the different distances between the divisions. Thanks to the added horizontal divisions at the top, the facade has a smooth and light character.{{Sfn|Sarkisov|Alizadeh|1950|p=128}}

The brick wall of the building's first and second floors was built with arches and rectangular windows. Its third floor also has a brick wall. The building's facade's such division created a light-shadow effect. The building's facade, constructed with stones and facing north, is more similar to Shusha's architecture. Despite this, it lags behind many nobility houses in terms of the quality of the architectural work.{{Sfn|Sarkisov|Alizadeh|1950|p=128}}

The house also has a large garden, which houses various smaller buildings intended for home service.{{Sfn|Kaziyeva|1960|p=92}}

Gallery

File:House of Natavan before occupation of Shusha.jpg|Picture of the house, historical photograph

File:House of Natavan after occupation.jpg|Ruined state of the house after the Armenian capture of Shusha

File:An old building in Shushi.jpg|Ruined state of the house after the Armenian capture of Shusha

File:Xurşidbanu Natavanın sarayının birinci və ikinci mərtəbələrinin planı.jpg|The plan of the first and second floor of the palace

References

Sources

{{Cite book |last=Avalov |first=E. V. |year=1977 |title=Архитектура города Шуши и проблемы сохранения его исторического облика |location=Baku |publisher=Elm |language=ru }}
{{Cite book |chapter=Город Шуша. Дом Хуршуд Бану Натаван |title=Азербайджан (Исторические и достопримечательные места) |first=M. A. |last=Kaziyeva |location=Baku |publisher=Издательство АН Азербайджанской ССР |year=1960 |language=ru }}
{{Cite book |last1=Sarkisov |first1=Ashot |last2=Alizadeh |first2=Ali Ashraf |year=1950 |title=О некоторых архитектурных памятниках Шуши (Памятники архитектуры Азербайджана (сборник материалов) |volume=2 |location=Moscow and Baku |language=ru }}
{{Cite book |last=Durch |first=William J. |title=UN Peacekeeping, American Politics, and the Uncivil Wars of the 1990s |location=New York |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |isbn=0-312-12930-0 |year=1996 }}
{{Cite journal |last=Goble |first=Paul |author-link=Paul A. Goble |url=https://jamestown.org/program/shusha-once-again-key-to-war-and-peace-between-armenia-and-azerbaijan/ |title=Shusha Once Again Key to War and Peace Between Armenia and Azerbaijan |journal=Eurasia Daily Monitor |publisher=Jamestown Foundation |volume=17 |issue=160 |date=12 November 2020 |access-date=1 January 2021 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20210101210250/https://jamestown.org/program/shusha-once-again-key-to-war-and-peace-between-armenia-and-azerbaijan/ |archive-date=1 January 2021 }}

External links

Category:Karabakh Khanate

Category:Museums in Shusha

Category:Monuments and memorials in Shusha

Category:Palaces in Azerbaijan

Category:Royal residences in Azerbaijan