|
UNDER
CONSTRUCTION
|
Just beyond the Odzun turnoff, a track leads W to Kachachkut,
which has ruins of a 13-14th c. fortress and S. Nshan Vank
church. |
|
The city of Alaverdi
(“Allah gave” in Turkish) owes its
existence to the rich copper mines nearby. Systematic exploitation began
around 1780, with Greek miners brought in to supplement the conscripted
labor of local villagers. The
mines benefited the Argutinskii-Dolgoruki
noble
|
UNDER
CONSTRUCTION
|
|
|
|
family,
which claimed
descent from the Zakarian princes. Members of this family, serving the Czar as military officers or
Armenian archbishops, were central to the annexation of the
Transcaucasus. At one
point, Alaverdi was allegedly the source of one quarter of the Russian
Empire’s output of refined copper. In the 1880s, the concession was
sold to a French company, but the skilled miners remained primarily
Greek.
|
