International travelers visit Azykh cave in Azerbaijan’s Khojavend district
Khojavend, October 8, AZERTAC
As part of their visit to Garabagh and East Zangezur, an international group of travelers representing 13 countries led by American traveler Charles Veley, founder of the Most Travelled People (MTP) club, arrived in the Khojavend district today to visit the historic Azykh cave.
Nihad Rahimli, an employee of the State Service for Protection, Development and Restoration of Cultural Heritage under the Ministry of Culture, provided the guests with detailed information about the cave. The Azykh cave, located in the Khojavend district, is the largest limestone cave found in the South Caucasus and one of the oldest human settlements in Eurasia.
The first scientific exploration of the cavern was conducted by an archaeological expedition led by prominent Azerbaijani archeologist Mammadali Huseynov in 1960-1968.
The Azerbaijan scientists basing on scientific grounds have proven that the lower jawbone of an ancient man found in the Azykh cave dates back to 350-400 thousand years and this date was confirmed at the international scientific conferences. This is the third found relic in the world.
Azykh cave confirms that the territory of Azerbaijan was obviously human inhabited 1 million years ago.
The Azykh and Taglar caves were included in the Tentative List of the UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List in 2021.
During the occupation of Azerbaijan’s territories, Armenian archaeologists carried out illegal excavations in the cave with the participation of foreign researchers without the consent of Azerbaijan, and the findings were transported to Armenia.
Currently, the Azykh International Paleolithic Archaeological Expedition, based on the Memorandum signed between the Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology of ANAS and the Leibniz Center for Archaeology (LEIZA) of Germany, has been continuing its research for the third year. In addition to Azerbaijan and Germany, specialists from 10 other countries are involved in the expedition.
Led by American traveler Charles Veley, founder of the Most Travelled People (MTP) club, an international group of 40 travelers representing 13 countries today arrived in Garabagh and East Zangezur for a visit. The itinerary includes visits to Albanian churches highlighting Azerbaijan’s ancient history and heritage.
This marks the 17th group visit by major international travelers’ clubs to Garabagh and East Zangezur since 2021, offering participants a firsthand look at the extensive reconstruction and restoration efforts underway in the liberated territories.
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