Armenian Hazarashen

In Armenian traditional house, there were two main types of roofs. The first one was relatively simple. It consisted of logs, which were laid parallel to the walls and gradually narrowed close to the hole at the top. The name of the hole was yerdik. This type of roof construction was common in regions that were rich in construction wood. For example, Chorokh valley and villages of Artsakh. The second type of roof was built from polyhedral and polygonal frames, the logs of which gradually narrowed in the direction of the roof hole. This kind of roofs were common mainly in snowy and rainy regions without timber. They were the most common in the Upper Armenia. Such roofs were called Hazarashen. They got their name from the “thousand” (hazar) pieces of wood used to build the roof.

Hazarashen and its structure

Hazarashen consisted of frames, which were parallel to the walls and had from eight to twelve corners. Small frames, resting on the large frames that preceded them, formed a hole at the top of the roof.

There are also hazarashens in which the open spaces between the main frames were closed with well-polished and neatly arranged boards. Very often frames and boards were decorated with various sculptures. In the old days, masters tried to make the hazarashen not only beautiful, but also light.

The main advantage of the hazarashen is that it is built from shorter logs, which is very convenient for draining rainwater. Hazarashen and other roofs of this kind are difficult to distinguish from each other, since most of them are covered with soil on the outside. Their differences only become apparent at close range.

However, it should be noted that hazarashen is found not only in Armenian folk architecture. They are also common in Georgia and among other ancient Caucasian and Asian countries. You can notice this type of buildings in secular and church architecture of Armenia. Armenian hazarashen is also mentioned in the work of Xenophon “Anabasis”.

In Armenia, hazarashens were used in the construction of roofs for tonirs. The hazarashen structure as well as the yerdik located above the tonir, helped the smoke to easily leave the room.

Below are examples of hazarashen from different settlements of Greater Armenia.

• Kars

• Khnus province, Haramik (now Bellitaş), 1994

• Lower Basean province, village Karapnar, 2007

• Kars, 2014

• Khnus province, village Yeghrdli or Gaspargom (now Gürçayır), 2010

• Kars, Karz province, village Mazra, 2014

• Baghesh (Bitlis), Mush province, village Vardenis (Altınova), 2004

• Kars, village Bayraktar, 2008

• Mush province, village Orgnots (now Çukurbağ), 2006

• Kars, village Söğüt, 2014

• Kars, Shirakavan, village Bagnayr, 2005

• Van, Hayots Dzor province, village Khorgom (now Dilkaya), 2013

• Gegharkunik province, Tigran Mets hotel complex near the town of Martuni. Martiros Chalumyan built the hazarashen

• Aragatsotn province, village Garnahovit, 2014

• Kars, village Bayraktar, 2008

• Karin (Erzurum), Tortum province, village Norshen

• Shahumyan district, Nor Verishen village. Martiros Chalumyan built the store

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