Amberd Fortress Aragatsotn, Armenia

Amberd is the name given to the 7th century Armenian fortress located 2300 m above sea level, on the slopes of Mount Aragats at the confluence of the Arkashen and Amberd rivers in the province of Aragatsotn, Armenia. The name translates to (fortress in the clouds) in Armenian. The village of Byurakan is located 6.4 km away from the site of Amberd.

The site where the fortress sits presently started as a Stone Age settlement. During the Bronze Age and Urartian periods, a fortress had been built that is now obsolete. Some sources say that Amberd used to be a summer residence for kings. Vahram built the Church of Surb Astvatsatsin in 1026, fortified the complex with thicker stone walls, and added three bastions along the ridge of the Arkhashen canyon. Despite being unusual for a military installation, a bath house was built in the same period and has remained moderately intact along with the water supply system. The interior of the castle had three-stories, each floor separated from one another by wood planks clinched on logs. There were five rooms in the first and second floor, each arranged in a row where one would enter each room through the previous room. An irregularly shaped hallway was separate from the three internal rooms by an internal wall. At Amberd, a constant water supply was crucial for its inhabitants. A terra cotta pipeline had been laid 4 to 5 km from the fortress to damned reservoirs which collected sources of spring water from higher elevations and melting snow. In the event that the fortress was under attack, another more secret water supply would need to ensure a constant flow of water. A covered passageway that led from the fortifications along a steep pathway descending down a cleft in the rocks to the Arkashen River performed such a task. The bath house situated to the south of the fortress was built sometime between the 10th and 11th centuries. Its twin bathing rooms each with a single dome are still moderately intact. At one time it had used hypocaust heating as had originated in Roman times, to heat the floors. Pipes that ran through the floors and walls of the structure were heated by a fire built under the floor, which then forced the heat throughout the bathing rooms. Metal pipes supplied hot water to the baths.

/Wikipedia.org/

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