Caucasus Heritage Watch
@caucasushw.bsky.social
CHW monitors and documents endangered and damaged cultural heritage using high-resolution satellite imagery. Led by archaeologists @cornelluniversity.bsky.social and Purdue University.
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A $5 TRUE STORY
Each month for 2+ years, a $5 bill arrives in CHW's mail—folded neatly in an envelope from one mysterious donor. It’s a small, steady reminder that every gift matters.
Will you give $5 today so we can continue reporting on heritage at risk?
crowdfunding.cornell.edu/project/48028
Each month for 2+ years, a $5 bill arrives in CHW's mail—folded neatly in an envelope from one mysterious donor. It’s a small, steady reminder that every gift matters.
Will you give $5 today so we can continue reporting on heritage at risk?
crowdfunding.cornell.edu/project/48028
November 7, 2025 at 4:26 PM
A $5 TRUE STORY
Each month for 2+ years, a $5 bill arrives in CHW's mail—folded neatly in an envelope from one mysterious donor. It’s a small, steady reminder that every gift matters.
Will you give $5 today so we can continue reporting on heritage at risk?
crowdfunding.cornell.edu/project/48028
Each month for 2+ years, a $5 bill arrives in CHW's mail—folded neatly in an envelope from one mysterious donor. It’s a small, steady reminder that every gift matters.
Will you give $5 today so we can continue reporting on heritage at risk?
crowdfunding.cornell.edu/project/48028
Meet the CHW leads: archaeologists Smith, Lindsay, & Khatchadourian and political geographer Ghulyan. Since 2020 we've drawn on decades of regional expertise to respond to war’s impact on cultural heritage.
Help us reach 25% of our crowdfunding goal today!
crowdfunding.cornell.edu/project/48028
Help us reach 25% of our crowdfunding goal today!
crowdfunding.cornell.edu/project/48028
November 5, 2025 at 2:17 PM
Meet the CHW leads: archaeologists Smith, Lindsay, & Khatchadourian and political geographer Ghulyan. Since 2020 we've drawn on decades of regional expertise to respond to war’s impact on cultural heritage.
Help us reach 25% of our crowdfunding goal today!
crowdfunding.cornell.edu/project/48028
Help us reach 25% of our crowdfunding goal today!
crowdfunding.cornell.edu/project/48028
Current conditions for preserving Armenian cultural heritage in Karabakh are not favorable. As development and resettlement accelerate while international legal oversight appears poised to diminish, CHW’s monitoring work takes on heightened importance. Read more in the report. 3/4
July 21, 2025 at 2:49 PM
Current conditions for preserving Armenian cultural heritage in Karabakh are not favorable. As development and resettlement accelerate while international legal oversight appears poised to diminish, CHW’s monitoring work takes on heightened importance. Read more in the report. 3/4
New threats concentrate in Lachin region, where development has been intense. Threats also occur elsewhere where roadwork and development are underway, e.g., in Vangli/Vank and Shusha/Shushi. See CHW’s map of all impacts to cultural heritage since spring 2021. 2/4
July 21, 2025 at 2:49 PM
New threats concentrate in Lachin region, where development has been intense. Threats also occur elsewhere where roadwork and development are underway, e.g., in Vangli/Vank and Shusha/Shushi. See CHW’s map of all impacts to cultural heritage since spring 2021. 2/4
Monitoring Report #8 on 500+ cultural heritage sites in former Nagorno-Karabakh out today. See findings from satellite monitoring missions in fall 2024 and spring 2025. Key takeaways: no new destruction; damage to 2 cemeteries and 1 church; spike in # of threatened sites. 1/4 tinyurl.com/hm6daw9x
July 21, 2025 at 2:49 PM
Monitoring Report #8 on 500+ cultural heritage sites in former Nagorno-Karabakh out today. See findings from satellite monitoring missions in fall 2024 and spring 2025. Key takeaways: no new destruction; damage to 2 cemeteries and 1 church; spike in # of threatened sites. 1/4 tinyurl.com/hm6daw9x
The church remained in damaged but stable condition for decades until the recent collapse documented by CHW. The engraved cross, pictured below, is to the left of the large hole where the door once stood. More about this church here: tinyurl.com/pfk4bcmd. 3/6
November 18, 2024 at 4:24 PM
The church remained in damaged but stable condition for decades until the recent collapse documented by CHW. The engraved cross, pictured below, is to the left of the large hole where the door once stood. More about this church here: tinyurl.com/pfk4bcmd. 3/6
Photographs taken in the mid-1990s indicate that the entryway in the southern wall was already damaged by that time. Also, the stone facing around the windows was no longer present. 2/6
November 18, 2024 at 4:24 PM
Photographs taken in the mid-1990s indicate that the entryway in the southern wall was already damaged by that time. Also, the stone facing around the windows was no longer present. 2/6
Satellite imagery shows that between Oct. 5, 2023, and April 30, 2024, the 19th century Tandzatap church in Garababa, Zangilan sustained major damage. Most of the roof has collapsed, as has the southern wall which featured an embedded stone engraved with a cross. 1/6
November 18, 2024 at 4:24 PM
Satellite imagery shows that between Oct. 5, 2023, and April 30, 2024, the 19th century Tandzatap church in Garababa, Zangilan sustained major damage. Most of the roof has collapsed, as has the southern wall which featured an embedded stone engraved with a cross. 1/6
Preparations for COP29 may have a grave impact on Karabakh’s Armenian cultural heritage. Massive infrastructure and redevelopment projects are threatening, damaging, or destroying cultural sites in the path of omnipresent earth movers. Learn more in the report.
February 13, 2025 at 3:57 PM
Preparations for COP29 may have a grave impact on Karabakh’s Armenian cultural heritage. Massive infrastructure and redevelopment projects are threatening, damaging, or destroying cultural sites in the path of omnipresent earth movers. Learn more in the report.
In this cycle, the impacts cluster in Shusha/Shushi district as well as in Kalbajar (villages of Zar/Tsar, Chirag/Chragh, and Gozlu/Vaghuhas). Also impacted: Khojaly/Askeran (Garabulag/Aknaghbyur village) and Khojavend/Martuni (Chartar and Hunarli/Tsakuri villages). 3/4
February 13, 2025 at 3:57 PM
In this cycle, the impacts cluster in Shusha/Shushi district as well as in Kalbajar (villages of Zar/Tsar, Chirag/Chragh, and Gozlu/Vaghuhas). Also impacted: Khojaly/Askeran (Garabulag/Aknaghbyur village) and Khojavend/Martuni (Chartar and Hunarli/Tsakuri villages). 3/4
Monitoring Report #7 on cultural heritage in former Nagorno-Karabakh out today. Our latest monitoring cycle has revealed the greatest number of impacted Armenian cultural sites since we began monitoring in 2021. Newly destroyed=6, newly threatened=7.1/4
tinyurl.com/4bbywb9j
tinyurl.com/4bbywb9j
February 13, 2025 at 3:57 PM
Monitoring Report #7 on cultural heritage in former Nagorno-Karabakh out today. Our latest monitoring cycle has revealed the greatest number of impacted Armenian cultural sites since we began monitoring in 2021. Newly destroyed=6, newly threatened=7.1/4
tinyurl.com/4bbywb9j
tinyurl.com/4bbywb9j
Azerbaijan has destroyed the remains of two schools and with them traces of a medieval Armenian past. Their ruination encapsulates the cycles of erasure that have wrecked cultural landscapes in the NK conflict. Our latest StoryMap 'Wreckage upon Wreckage'.
storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/2e1ec3…
storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/2e1ec3…
February 13, 2025 at 3:57 PM
Azerbaijan has destroyed the remains of two schools and with them traces of a medieval Armenian past. Their ruination encapsulates the cycles of erasure that have wrecked cultural landscapes in the NK conflict. Our latest StoryMap 'Wreckage upon Wreckage'.
storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/2e1ec3…
storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/2e1ec3…
DESTRUCTION ALERT: Satellite imagery dated April 4 shows that the destruction of the Ghazanchetsots cemetery in Shusha is complete. This marks the first destruction of a cemetery since the @CIJ_ICJ ordered Azerbaijan to prevent and punish attacks on Armenian cultural heritage.1/3
February 13, 2025 at 3:57 PM
DESTRUCTION ALERT: Satellite imagery dated April 4 shows that the destruction of the Ghazanchetsots cemetery in Shusha is complete. This marks the first destruction of a cemetery since the @CIJ_ICJ ordered Azerbaijan to prevent and punish attacks on Armenian cultural heritage.1/3
At the entrance to the belfy, building inscriptions in Armenian read: “St. Hovhannes Mkrtich Church was built by Shusha townsman baron Hovhannes and Baba Stepanyan Hovnanents in memory of their deceased brother Mkrtich in the year of 1847.” 3/3
February 13, 2025 at 3:57 PM
At the entrance to the belfy, building inscriptions in Armenian read: “St. Hovhannes Mkrtich Church was built by Shusha townsman baron Hovhannes and Baba Stepanyan Hovnanents in memory of their deceased brother Mkrtich in the year of 1847.” 3/3
DESTRUCTION ALERT: Between December 28, 2023 and April 4, 2024, St. John the Baptist church (S. Hovhannes Mkrtich), a 177 year old landmark in Shusha was destroyed, Azerbaijan’s most egregious violation yet of a December 2021 @ICJ order . 1/3
tinyurl.com/yr7jvd3r
tinyurl.com/yr7jvd3r
February 13, 2025 at 3:57 PM
DESTRUCTION ALERT: Between December 28, 2023 and April 4, 2024, St. John the Baptist church (S. Hovhannes Mkrtich), a 177 year old landmark in Shusha was destroyed, Azerbaijan’s most egregious violation yet of a December 2021 @ICJ order . 1/3
tinyurl.com/yr7jvd3r
tinyurl.com/yr7jvd3r
In this giving season, we ask the public to support our work to monitor heritage endangered by the NK conflict. We welcome small donations from all who think CHW is doing important work to counter state denialism, encourage accountability, and support informed debate. 4/4
February 13, 2025 at 3:57 PM
In this giving season, we ask the public to support our work to monitor heritage endangered by the NK conflict. We welcome small donations from all who think CHW is doing important work to counter state denialism, encourage accountability, and support informed debate. 4/4
Since CHW began its monitoring program, we have assessed 44 sites as threatened, destroyed, or damaged. The number of threatened sites is rising sharply. And incidents of damage are increasing steadily despite the ICJ’s Dec. 2021 order that Azerbaijan prevent such abuses. 2/4
February 13, 2025 at 3:57 PM
Since CHW began its monitoring program, we have assessed 44 sites as threatened, destroyed, or damaged. The number of threatened sites is rising sharply. And incidents of damage are increasing steadily despite the ICJ’s Dec. 2021 order that Azerbaijan prevent such abuses. 2/4
Please give. Then share.
February 13, 2025 at 3:56 PM
Please give. Then share.
If you follow CHW and value our work to monitor heritage endangered by the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict using satellite imagery, please give today. There are 18 days left in our fall crowdfunding campaign.7/7
tinyurl.com/m92dz8yn
tinyurl.com/m92dz8yn
February 13, 2025 at 3:56 PM
If you follow CHW and value our work to monitor heritage endangered by the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict using satellite imagery, please give today. There are 18 days left in our fall crowdfunding campaign.7/7
tinyurl.com/m92dz8yn
tinyurl.com/m92dz8yn
By the 1990s, 45 tombstones remained. One marks the passing of Stepan, a blacksmith from Ghazanchi village in Nakhchivan, who died in 1758. He was one of many Armenian migrants from that village whose name was given to the city’s well-known cathedral. 3/7
February 13, 2025 at 3:56 PM
By the 1990s, 45 tombstones remained. One marks the passing of Stepan, a blacksmith from Ghazanchi village in Nakhchivan, who died in 1758. He was one of many Armenian migrants from that village whose name was given to the city’s well-known cathedral. 3/7
The location of the cemetery is confirmed by maps, publications, and recent photographs (supporting materials in CHW’s forthcoming Monitoring Report #6). The 18-19th c. cemetery had been severely damaged during the Soviet era. 2/7
February 13, 2025 at 3:56 PM
The location of the cemetery is confirmed by maps, publications, and recent photographs (supporting materials in CHW’s forthcoming Monitoring Report #6). The 18-19th c. cemetery had been severely damaged during the Soviet era. 2/7
DAMAGE ALERT: Between Oct. 5 and Nov. 3, another Armenian cemetery in Shusha/i was damaged. It appears that bulldozers dumped heaps of debris atop the old Ghazanchetsots cemetery (southeast of the cathedral), endangering the already fragmented tombstones. 1/7
February 13, 2025 at 3:56 PM
DAMAGE ALERT: Between Oct. 5 and Nov. 3, another Armenian cemetery in Shusha/i was damaged. It appears that bulldozers dumped heaps of debris atop the old Ghazanchetsots cemetery (southeast of the cathedral), endangering the already fragmented tombstones. 1/7
The tombstones of women and men, young and old, tell stories of kinship, occupation, faith, status, and more. And they ask that the deceased may rest in peace. 3/5
February 13, 2025 at 3:56 PM
The tombstones of women and men, young and old, tell stories of kinship, occupation, faith, status, and more. And they ask that the deceased may rest in peace. 3/5
Dense forest obscures the cemetery. We used maps and publications of Shusha/i to trace its borders. It’s unclear how many tombstones were damaged, but research shows that burials covered the area (supporting materials in forthcoming Report #6). 2/5
February 13, 2025 at 3:56 PM
Dense forest obscures the cemetery. We used maps and publications of Shusha/i to trace its borders. It’s unclear how many tombstones were damaged, but research shows that burials covered the area (supporting materials in forthcoming Report #6). 2/5
DAMAGE ALERT: Between Oct. 5 and Nov. 3 bulldozers carved a road through an historic burial ground in Shusha/i known as the Yerevan Gate cemetery. Nestled amidst the trees are at least 78 Armenian-inscribed tombstones dating between 1802 and 1913. 1/5
February 13, 2025 at 3:56 PM
DAMAGE ALERT: Between Oct. 5 and Nov. 3 bulldozers carved a road through an historic burial ground in Shusha/i known as the Yerevan Gate cemetery. Nestled amidst the trees are at least 78 Armenian-inscribed tombstones dating between 1802 and 1913. 1/5