Andok Ishkhan’s Fortress

Near the settlement of Tandzaver, not far from Mach, is Vahramaberd, or as the people say, Andovk or the fortress of Prince Andok. According to tradition, the immense wealth of Prince Andok, which he plundered and brought from the capital of the Persian king Shapuh, Tizbon, is buried in that fortress. This story is very popular among our people. It is said that the patriarch of Syunik, Andok, often visited the court of the Persian king Shapuh. Once, Shapuh, who was once again in a hurry, wanted to find out which nation and princely family had the right to the royal throne and honor. He organized a magnificent feast and, according to the list of thrones and ranks of the seventeen princely houses included in Agatangeghos’s “History of the Armenians,” distributed the places of the Armenian ministers around the royal table. The fourteenth throne fell to the prince Andok of Syunik. The latter, deeply offended by this low rank, does not taste anything from the table and thinks about how to take revenge. One day, learning that Shapuh is absent from the palace, he takes his seventeen hundred comrades, reaches Tizbon, plunders the royal palace, steals countless gold and silver, precious stones and brings them to Syunik. Hearing about this, Shapuh becomes angry and sends an army to Syunik. He is unable to capture Andok and return his wealth. The latter takes the treasures and leaves his homeland without returning. It is said that the enraged Shapuh places a copper urn full of ashes at the door of his palace so that whoever comes to the palace can beat the urn and curse it: “May the Syunik principality, its life and its wisdom fall like this urn.”

Vahramaberd was used by Armenians in the 1990s as a defensive point against Azerbaijani aggression.

This landmark is located in the Tandzaver settlement, 35 km from the regional center.