The Ordubad Buzkhana (, lit. "Ordubad City Ice House") is a historic ice house in the centre of Ordubad, in the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic of Azerbaijan. It stands near the Juma Mosque.
The date of its construction is disputed. Azerbaijani architectural literature and the Nakhchivan Ministry of Culture date the building to the 14th century and state that it was restored in the 18th century. By contrast, Azerbaijan's official register of protected monuments dates the Buzkhana to the 18th century, while a 2024 presidential order places an ice house among the buildings erected in Ordubad in the early 17th century.
The building has a total area of , including an underground chamber of . It is high and has walls approximately thick. It was built principally of fired brick bonded with lime mortar.
Dating and historiography
The original construction date of the Ordubad Buzkhana has not been conclusively established. Historian Hacıfəxrəddin Səfərli notes that no construction inscription survives on the building and that this has resulted in differing views concerning its date.
The Encyclopedia of Nakhchivan Monuments dates the ice house to the 14th century and states that it was restored in the 18th century. Qənbərova and Güneri likewise assign it to the 14th century and state that, after falling into disuse, it was restored by benefactors from Ordubad during the 18th century. The Nakhchivan Ministry of Culture gives the same chronology.
A different chronology appears in the official Azerbaijani heritage register approved by the Cabinet of Ministers on 2 August 2001. In that register the Buzkhana is listed as an immovable architectural monument of national importance, inventory number 415, and is dated to the 18th century.
An 18th-century date also appears in Turkish art-historical literature. A study by Ayşe Özkan Emanet, citing art historian Turgay Yazar's work on the architecture of Nakhchivan, states that the Ordubad ice house is thought to have been constructed in the 18th century. Səfərli also discusses Yazar's 18th-century attribution when reviewing the competing dates proposed for the monument.
A third chronology is found in the presidential order of 21 February 2024 establishing the Ordubad State Historical and Cultural Reserve. Its historical preamble lists the Juma Mosque, madrasa, ice house, geysariyya, bathhouse and caravanserais among buildings constructed in Ordubad in the early 17th century. The document is an administrative legal act rather than a specialised architectural study.
The surviving sources therefore variously date the original construction of the building to the 14th century, the early 17th century and the 18th century.
Urban setting
The Buzkhana stands in the historic centre of Ordubad, close to the Juma Mosque. Qənbərova and Güneri place it within the historic central market complex of the town. They identify other structures formerly associated with this area, including the Qabxana pottery workshop, the Şir-Xuda bathhouse and the Yahya Bey and Mammad Bey mosques.
The historic urban layout of Ordubad developed around its commercial centre and neighbourhood squares. UNESCO's description of the Ordubad Historical and Architectural Reserve notes the importance of the town's market area, neighbourhood squares and street network in its historic urban structure.
Architecture
The Buzkhana has a rectangular plan. It is constructed of fired brick and lime mortar. Qənbərova and Güneri give the dimensions of the bricks as .
The building consists of a large entrance room, a two-flight staircase and an underground ice chamber. The chamber is reached by a staircase of 36 steps, each approximately .
The entrance room has a flat ceiling, while the underground chamber is covered by a system of pointed arches and vaults. The principal load-bearing arches are spaced approximately apart. The brick courses between the arches are laid perpendicular to the load-bearing arches. Near the crown of the vault the construction changes, with smaller vaults arranged along the longitudinal axis of the building.
Emanet, citing Yazar, describes three supporting arches dividing the interior into four bays.
A plan and section of the Ordubad Buzkhana reproduced by Qənbərova and Güneri are credited to the archive of the Azər Bərpa Design Institute and dated 1997.
Comparison with the Nakhchivan Buzkhana
Qənbərova and Güneri compare the Ordubad structure with the Nakhchivan Buzkhana. According to their analysis, the two buildings share similarities in overall form, building material and vaulting system, although the Ordubad ice house is smaller. They also consider the Ordubad example to have preserved more of its original architectural form, while noting that the more dynamic vaulting arrangement of the Nakhchivan structure is less pronounced in Ordubad.
Historical use
Information about the traditional operation of the Buzkhana is partly based on oral accounts collected from local residents by Qənbərova and Güneri. According to these accounts, during winter water from a local kahriz (qanat) was directed into the underground part of the building and allowed to freeze. Straw was placed between the resulting blocks of ice to slow melting.
The same oral accounts state that in summer workers entered the ice chamber with felt wrapped around their feet and cut out blocks of ice for use by the inhabitants of Ordubad. The Encyclopedia of Nakhchivan Monuments and the Nakhchivan Ministry of Culture also describe the structure as having been used to keep food and household provisions cool during hot weather.
Restoration and protection
Qənbərova and Güneri reproduce photographs showing the monument before restoration in 2007 and after restoration work carried out in 2013–2014. The Nakhchivan Ministry of Culture states that the restoration was completed in 2014.
Under the heritage register approved by the Cabinet of Ministers of Azerbaijan in 2001, the Ordubad Buzkhana is an immovable architectural monument of national importance, with inventory number 415.
In February 2024, the existing Ordubad Historical-Architectural Reserve was reorganised as the Ordubad State Historical and Cultural Reserve by presidential order.
The wider Ordubad Historical and Architectural Reserve has been on Azerbaijan's UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List since 24 October 2001. The Tentative List entry applies to the historic urban reserve as a whole; the Ordubad Buzkhana is not separately inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
See also
Nakhchivan Buzkhana Ice house (building) Architecture of Azerbaijan
References
Further reading