Khnapat
Khnapat or Khanabad is a village in the Khojaly District of Azerbaijan, in the region of Nagorno-Karabakh. Until 2023 it was controlled by the breakaway Republic of Artsakh. The village had an ethnic Armenian-majority population until the expulsion of the Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh by Azerbaijan following the 2023 Azerbaijani offensive in Nagorno-Karabakh.
History
Khnapat is regarded as one of the most ancient settlements in Artsakh. This is attested by burial grounds dating to the second and first millennia BCE, along with the remains of early villages and cemeteries found within the village territory. The modern village was founded in the early 19th century by settlers from the nearby Armenian mountain villages of Jrver and Yereshen. During the Soviet period, the village was part of the Askeran District of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast.
Historical heritage sites in and around the village include the nearby ruined village of Jrver from between the 12th and 17th centuries, the ruined village of Verin Ghlijbagh from between the 12th and 19th centuries 3 km to the west of Khnapat, a 9th/13th-century khachkar, a chapel built in 1224, the medieval cave-shrine of Mets Nan, a 17th-century cemetery, the ruined village of Yereshen from between the 18th and 20th centuries, the 19th-century church of Surb Astvatsatsin, and a 19th/20th-century cemetery.
Economy and culture
The population is mainly engaged in agriculture and animal husbandry, as well as in different state institutions. As of 2015, the village has a municipal building, a house of culture, a secondary school, a music school, a kindergarten, three shops, and a medical centre.
Demographics
The village had 827 inhabitants in 2005, and 1,042 inhabitants in 2015.