The bell tower of the Shushi cathedral and an angel statue

The architectural complex consists of a church built in 1868–1887 and a three-tiered bell tower built in 1858. The architecture of the cathedral resembles Etchmiadzin Cathedral. At the corners of the bell tower’s second tier there used to be four statues of angels blowing trumpets; they were destroyed during the Armenian–Azerbaijani conflicts. New angel statues were installed after the cathedral was restored.

After the Shushi massacre of 1920 the cathedral ceased to be used as a church. In the Soviet period it served as a granary and later as a garage. In 2020, during the Second Artsakh War, the cathedral was badly damaged by shelling. After the city came under Azerbaijani control, repair works began which, according to reports, included the removal of some architectural elements and the crosses, turning the building into a mosque.

The photograph shows a winged angel statue holding a trumpet in the foreground, and behind it the bell tower with arched openings and conical tops crowned with crosses.