The Round Castle of Mardakian

Round Castle is one of the famous fortresses of Mardakyan village, located 36 kilometers from Baku. On one of the stones there is an inscription dating the construction of the fortress in 1232. The authorship is attributed to the architect Abdulmajid ibn Maqsud. The Circular Castle bears this name because of the round shape of its main tower, which is 12.5 meters high. The tower occupies a central position in the fortress, rises in the middle of a spacious square-shaped courtyard. On all sides the courtyard is surrounded by reliable 7-meter walls.

In its architecture and structure, the fortress is not much different from other traditional fortresses of the Asheron Peninsula. The diameter of the tower is 7.6 meters. Inside, the tower is divided into 3 tiers, which performed different functions when protecting the fortress. If the second and third floors are connected by a staircase carved in the wall, then access from the first to the second is possible only through a slot in the ceiling along the ladder. This is a typical arrangement of towers, preventing the enemy from capturing the upper tiers with the defenders.

The castle was restored in the middle of the twentieth century and is now protected by the state.