During the occupation, hundreds of historical and cultural monuments in Karabakh and East Zangezur were destroyed and damaged to varying degrees. Currently, the total amount of material damage caused to 434 monuments is estimated at 700 million 154 thousand manats.
elchi reports that this was stated by Sabina Hajiyeva, Head of the State Service for Protection, Development and Restoration of Cultural Heritage, during her speech on the fourth day of the “Baku Climate Action Week 2026”.
According to her, inventory work has been carried out on 575 out of 749 state-registered monuments in the liberated territories. 196 of them are located in the city of Shusha.
Within the framework of the inventory, field research was conducted on the monuments, their digital maps were prepared, and photo and drone footage were taken. Archival documents and other sources were also studied to determine the previous state of the monuments.
Based on the results of the monitoring, 68 monuments in the liberated territories were completely destroyed, and 115 monuments were subjected to large-scale destruction. Various levels of damage were recorded in other monuments.
Among the completely destroyed monuments are 9 state-registered mausoleums, 3 cemeteries, and 7 mosques. In addition, it was determined that 25 mosques, 14 mausoleums, and 2 tombs were damaged to varying degrees.
Sabina Hajiyeva emphasized that the actual number of cultural heritage examples in Karabakh and East Zangezur is many times higher than the number of state-registered monuments.