| Handaberd | |
|---|---|
Հանդաբերդ Lekh Castle • Lex qalası | |
| Kalbajar District, Azerbaijan | |
 Gates of Handaberd fortress | |
| Coordinates | 40°13′37″N 46°08′16″E / 40.22694°N 46.13778°E |
| Type | Castle |
| Site history | |
| Built | 9th century |
| Built by | Atrnerseh I |
Handaberd (Armenian: Հանդաբերդ), also known as Lekh Castle (Azerbaijani: Lex qalası, Löh qalası) or Lev Castle, is a 9th-century fortress located in the Kalbajar District of Azerbaijan, near the villages of Lev and Knaravan, on the right bank of the Levçay River.[1] It was built by Atrnerseh I, ruler of the Armenian Principality of Khachen, who resided there.[2]
- ^ Karapetyan, Samvel (1999). Հայ մշակույթի հուշարձանները խորհրդային Ադրբեջանին բռնակցված շրջաններում [Armenian cultural monuments in the regions annexed to Soviet Azerbaijan] (PDF) (in Armenian). Yerevan: Armenian National Academy of Sciences Publishing House. pp. 24–30.
- ^ Hewsen, Robert H. "The Meliks of Eastern Armenia: II". Revue des études arméniennes. 10: 286.
We must now turn our attention to the Siwnids of Xačíēn, the third line of the House of Siwnik', 13 descendants of Atrnerseh I, the brother of Gregory - Supʻan I . D . West Siwnik' (Xačʻēn) Atrnerseh I, the first Prince of Xačʻēn and builder of Handu Castle (Handaberd), ruled over what must have represented more or less the entire mountain country along the southeastern slopes of the Armenian plateau, i.e., the former land of Arc'ax .