Above Chardaghlar village, in the foothills of the Caucasus Mountains of northwestern Azerbaijan, an ancient fortress can be seen built into the cliff face about 300 meters (nearly 1,000 feet) up the face of a cliff. Called Parigala [pa-ri-gah-LAH], which literally translates to ‘fairy castle’, the five-room stronghold conceals a cave entrance.
Looking at the above picture of Parigala, three windows can be seen: two small apertures above the arch structure, and one larger one to the right of the arch. Each window is associated with a room, for a total of three rooms in the main castle. Two more apertures, the size of doors, can be seen hewn into the rock further to the right and slightly lower than the arched building. Behind each door is another room, bringing the total to five. In order to visit Parigala, visitors must climb the cliff wall to one of these two doors. Mountain climbing skills and experience are strongly recommended, as this climb is not suitable for average tourists. From there, an enclosed stairwell, built of stone and reinforced with wood timbers stretches 40 meters (130 feet) up to the main structure. Near the top, the stairs are separating from the cliff, adding to the danger of the ascent.
Estimates of the age of the castle vary, from as early as the 3rd-4th centuries to as recent as the 4th-8th centuries. The reason for, and purpose of, Parigala is unknown. That knowledge was lost in the intervening ages since construction. The building is constructed of limestone bricks, which raises a few interesting questions: How did the builders lift or carry the bricks up the sheer cliff? How many laborers were required? How many years did it take to build? Archaeologist would also like to know who built it, for what purpose, and when and why was it abandoned? Did it serve a strictly military function, or was it more like a monestary whose difficult approach provided protection and safety for monks?
Villagers relate the legend of Parigala as a tragedy about two young princesses. (Note that ‘Pari’ is also a girl’s or woman’s name.) According to the legend, Genghis Khan (1155-1227) and his army invaded the territory and took one of the princesses as a bride. However, he was looking for more women to add to his harem, so he asked the princess if she knew anyone who was even more beautiful than she. The princess replied that her sister, Pari, was more beautiful. Kahn then sought Pari, but not desiring Kahn’s affection, Pari commissioned the castle to be built. She then took refuge there. But Kahn’s army laid seige, and seeing the futility of her situation, Pari jumped to her death. There are two problems with this tale. First, the castle was undoubtedly built before Kahn was even born, and second, it took years to build – was Pari hiding somewhere else from Kahn while the castle was under construction? And what was Kahn thinking, allowing a fortress to be built as a defense against him after he’d already conquered the region? So… there are problems with that ‘fairy tale’. Sounds like a tall tale for a tall cliff.
Most likely, the original name of the castle was lost to history when it was abandoned. The original inhabitants left, and new people arrived in the region. Not knowing anything about the fortress, they fancifully named it ‘fairy castle’ and spun a campfire story about it.
As little is known about Parigala, even fewer facts are available regarding the cave dwelling behind the fortress’ façade. The limestone shows much wear and polish, suggesting the building was in use for a very long time. No doubt the cave had been in use much longer, perhaps millennia before the fortress was built.
The mystery of the fairy castle will continue for the foreseeable future, as the government of Azerbaijan hasn’t demonstrated any particular hurry or even desire to fund archaeological research at Parigala.
Question Of The Night: Would you dig living in an ancient castle? What if it was really cool, but hard to get to?
