Artsakh has been one of the most important centers of Armenian spiritual and cultural life for centuries, especially the city of Shushi. The city with its centuries-old history and rich cultural environment shaped the spiritual and cultural face of Artsakh. Historical facts, in turn, emphasize the importance of Artsakh and Shushi in the Armenian cultural context.

According to the data of 1914, the Artsakh diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church had 222 active churches and about 200 ministers. During that time, the number of active Armenian villages in Artsakh was about 220, and the number of followers of the Armenian Apostolic Church reached 206 thousand. In turn, the city of Shushi in Artsakh had its center and church in each district. One of the most famous churches in the city was the Kusanats Monastery, which was also called Desert or Surb Astvastatsin Desert.

The church was built in 1816 with the initiative and support of Hripsime Bahduryan. He personally collected the necessary funds for the construction of the monastery, and his brothers Israel, Astvatatur and Petros Bahduryan also supported the work. The monastery had a rectangular plan and was built of white stone. The interior walls were decorated with frescoes on biblical themes, and a three-story bell tower rose in the southern part. The inscription preserved on the church tells a number of details about the construction.

“It was built in the name of the Holy Church of the Holy Mother of God with the help of the Holy Virgin Hripsimeats, in the name of the Grigorean Bahadurians, in 1816.” (“Shushi”, 1999, N 11-12).

There are also preserved a number of architectural details about the church, which emphasize the cultural value and architectural features of the monastery.

“The Kusanats monastery was a beautiful and modest building in a rectangular plan, built with cut limestone. The prayer hall (20×9.45 m) consisted of an apse. from a pair of deposits and a hall. The monastery had two entrances, from the southern and western sides, and nine windows. Inside, there were murals on the walls. According to the sources, the doors had a luxurious decoration, similar to the porches of the medieval churches of Artsakh. In the western part of the monastery there was a three-story bell tower with a slender roof. (Ibid.).

Apart from its architectural and cultural features, the monastery also had interesting historical holes. In the courtyard of the monastery there was an exceptional cannon that was cast in Turin and was of exceptional importance for the defense of the city and Artsakh. In other words, it was one of the symbols of the monastery and the city.

“The Kusanats monastery had an upper house, a strong enclosure with upper and lower gates, as well as other auxiliary structures. The monastery had an economist, an abbess, three deaconesses and a nun.

A cannon cast in Turin in 1813 was kept in the desert courtyard. In 1826 During the heroic defense of Shushi, the Armenian volunteers repelled the attack of the Persian troops in the direction of the gates of Mkhitarashen with that cannon. It was last used in 1905. During the Armenian-Tatar clashes in Shushi, to restrain the gassed Tatar rioters. Now that same cannon is displayed in the republican museum of Stepanakert. It is planned to bring the cannon to Shushi and build a small monument in the former Topkhanyan Square. (Ibid.).

However, during the Soviet period, when Artsakh had the status of Nagorno-Karabakh, Azerbaijan also continued its anti-Armenian and genocidal policy.

After the destruction and massacre of Shushi in 1920, the monastery was in a half-ruined state, Azerbaijan is bringing this work to a final end.

During the 1960s and 1970s, the Kusanats Monastery was completely demolished. The fate of the Kusanats Monastery symbolizes not only the tragedy of the loss of Shushi’s Armenian cultural heritage, but also the long-term policy of cultural genocide against Artsakh. Azerbaijan continues its policy in occupied Artsakh even now, every day. History repeats itself, the enemy remains the same, and sadly neither do we.

Z. I hesitated