Photo of the Armenian Self-Defense of Van

The self-defense of Van lasted from April to May 1915 (photo taken in May). Armenians had 1.500 warriors, while the Ottomans had 5.000 soldiers. It should be noted that one of the leaders of the defense was the famous Armenian artist Panos Termelezian.

“The photo shows the work of his hand: Gurgen Mahari, a refugee, a writer, another representative of the creative intelligentsia of the city of Van and the author of the novel ‘Burning Gardens’ dedicated to the Armenian Genocide in Turkey,” Robert Alexandrian

Van – Tosp, the Ancient Capital of the Kingdom of Van

Tosp (Armenian: Տոսպ) is an ancient city, the capital of the Kingdom of Van (Urartu) in its heyday. Tosp was located on the shore of Lake Van, on the western outskirts of the modern city of Van. The main element of the architecture of Tosp was the Van rock, the residence of the kings.

The first studies of the Van rock were conducted by a young French scientist Eduard Schultz at the beginning of the 19th century. Schultz was sent to Van to study the message of the medieval Armenian historian Movses Khorenatsi about the participation of the Assyrian Queen Shamiram in the construction of the city on the shore of Lake Van.

In particular, Schultz made a copy of the so-called “Chronicles of Khorkhor” by King Argishti I, one of the main documents on the history of the Kingdom of Van cut on the western side of the Van rock, which was badly damaged by cannon shells during the battles of World War I.

At the end of the 19th century, a small expeditionary group of the British Museum and groups from Germany investigated Tosp. Valuable artifacts found during the works of these groups now decorate the British and Berlin Museums. Besides, a multi-volume work of Lehmann-Haupt based on the results of that research was published.

Read more: Tosp, the Ancient Capital of the Kingdom of Van

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