Citadel
Description
The fortress of Metsamor is situated on a volcanic hill, Mets Blur („Big Hill”), ca. 870 m above sea level in the Ararat Plain, 40 km south-west from Yerevan, Armenia. It is among the most important archaeological sites in the southern Caucasus. It was heavily excavated by Armenian archaeologist, Emma Khanzadyan, from the 1960’s until the 1990’s. During her work many buildings were uncovered representing a wide chronological spectrum. The site itself is occupied at least as early as the beginning of IV millennium BC and remains as such, with intervals, until the 17th century AD. Although, on the citadel the main occupation phase can be attributed to the Late Bronze – Early Iron Age (14th – 8th century BC), when the site functioned as a major metal production centre. During this period the citadel got heavily fortified by a cyclopean wall. The term comes from the Aegean and refers to the construction technique, the wall is built from large roughly worked blocks of stones, the ancient Greeks believed that such huge stones could be moved only by Cyclopes. The wall, as it stands now, is a modern reconstruction from the original stone blocks found during the excavation.
The western end of the citadel housed the metallurgical district of the settlement, many of the ancient quarries and structures are still visible on the surface. The excavation also unrevealed two temples on the southern slope of the hill. Both structures contained an elaborate sacrificial altar dedicated to unknown god(s).
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