Type Castle | Built 13th–14th centuries | |
Lekh Castle (Azerbaijani: Löh qalası), sometimes named Lev Castle is west of the abandoned Qanlıkənd village of Kalbajar Rayon of Azerbaijan.
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History
Lekh Castle was built during Mongol rule of Azerbaijan in the 13th–14th centuries. It is one of the castles on Kalbajar's highlands. It was constructed over the Ayrım Gorge, on a high Khos forest mountain's ridge 600 metres (2,000 ft) from the right bank of Lev River flowing by Qanlıkənd village. The archeologists suspect that the castle was built on caravan routes and its main purpose was to see and protect the coming and leaving caravans.
Features
The castle is surrounded by a steep rock and streams from three sides, and looks like a natural rock relief. The only entrance to the castle is from the gates on the north-eastern edge. The internal length of the castle is 90 metres (300 ft), and its width is 35 to 40 metres (115 to 131 ft). The internal castle is in the higher south-western corner. The average thickness of the walls of Lekh Castle is 1.3 metres (4.3 ft). There are water wells 3 to 5 metres (10 to 16 ft) deep that were used for storage and cooling of food and as a source of drinking water. Nowadays, the walls are in ruins. Around Lekh Castle, there are other smaller satellite castles on surrounding mountain peaks such as Garavul (“Guard”) and Jomard castles. Close to the Lekh Castle there are two caves where archeologist found items testifying of early presence of human beings.
The castle bears a state historical importance.