Quadrangular castle

The Quadrangular Mardakan Fortress or the Great Mardakan Castle (Azerbaijani: Dördkünc Mərdəkan qalası or Azerbaijani: Böyük Mərdəkan qəsri; Persian: قلعه چهارضلعی مردکان or قلعه بزرگ مردکان) is a historical and architectural monument located in the Mardakan settlement of the Khazar district in Baku. It is included by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Azerbaijan (currently - the Ministry of Culture of Azerbaijan) in the list of monuments of world importance. In 2001, along with other objects of the coastal defence of the Caspian Sea, it was included in the UNESCO World Heritage Reserve List.

The fortress was built in the shape of a quadrangle in the 12th century by Akhsitan I, the son of Shirvanshah Minuchihr III.

The courtyard of the castle has the dimensions of 24x20 meters, and the height of the tower located in the courtyard is of 22 meters. The outer walls of the castle are reinforced with semi-circular blind towers located at the corners and along the wall. In general, the donjon of the Quadrangular Mardakan Castle has more developed architectural features compared to the Round Mardakan Castle.

Text adapted from “Quadrangular Mardakan Fortress” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Quadrangular castle ranks #2,868 of 7,738 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #9 of the 38 mapped in Azerbaijan. Founded 1225, it is older than 75% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 825 atlas entries founded in the 13th century. 4 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Baku, 29 km away. See how Azerbaijan compares in the castle statistics.

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Read the full history on Wikipedia ↗