Vagif Mausoleum (Shusha)

 memorial, mausoleum, ruins, grave, abandoned / shut down

Vagif Mausoleum (Azerbaijani: Vaqif türbəsi or Azerbaijani: Vaqif məqbərəsi) was built in honor of Molla Panah Vagif, a poet, prominent statesman and diplomat and vizier - the foreign minister of the Karabakh Khanate. The mausoleum is located in the city of Shusha in Karabakh region of Azerbaijan. The construction of the mausoleum started in the 1970s and was completed in 1982. It was inaugurated by then the First Secretary of Communist Party of Azerbaijan, Heydar Aliyev. The mausoleum was built by sculptor A. Mustafayev based on the design by member of the National Academy of Sciences Abdul Vakhav Salamzade and well known architect E.I. Kanukov. It is located in the southwestern part of Shusha, by the Jidir Duzu plain, where the poet was killed and is a part of Shusha State Historical and Architectural Reserve. The design of the mausoleum follows the pattern of Azerbaijani mausoleums architectural compositions such as Nizami Mausoleum in Ganja. It rises to 18 meters in height. The bottom part of the monument is built with reddish Karabakh marble plates, white and grey marble. Aluminum is used for the decoration pattern in the entire length of the mausoleum. The poet's name was engraved above the entrance door. The mausoleum was severely damaged after fightings at 1992. At the present time is reconstructed.