Shusha

Shusha (Azerbaijani: Şuşa, ) or Shushi (Armenian: Շուշի) is a city in Nagorno-Karabakh, Azerbaijan. Situated at an altitude of 1.4–1.8 kilometres (4,600–5,900 ft) in the Karabakh mountains, the city was a mountain resort in the Soviet era. The origin of the city is disputed, in the 1750s, Panah Ali Khan founded the Karabakh Khanate, and the city developed with the establishment of the fortress of Shusha. There was an alliance between Panah Ali Khan and Melik Shahnazar, the local Armenian prince (melik) of Varanda. The nearby Armenian village of Shosh (see § Etymology for further information), has been suggested as an origin of the town's name. The town has been described as an important center within the Armenian melikdoms of Karabakh in the 1720s, and the plateau has been suggested to have been the site of an already existing Armenian fortification. From the mid-18th century to 1822, Shusha was the capital of the Karabakh Khanate. The town became one of the cultural centers of the South Caucasus after the Russian conquest of the Caucasus region from Qajar Iran in the first half of the 19th century. Over the course of the 19th century, the town grew in size to become a city, and was home to many Armenian and Azerbaijani intellectuals, poets, writers and musicians (including Azerbaijani ashiks, mugham singers and kobuz players. The town has religious, cultural and strategic importance to both groups. Shusha is often considered the cradle of Azerbaijan's music and poetry, and one of the leading centres of the Azerbaijani culture. Shusha also contains a number of Armenian Apostolic churches, including Ghazanchetsots Cathedral and Kanach Zham (demolished by Azerbaijan as of 2026), and serves as a land link between Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia, via the Lachin corridor to the west. Throughout modern history, the city fostered a...