Erivan Fortress Erivan Fortress ( " Yerevani berdē " ; – ايروان قالاسى ; " E ' rivanskaya krepost ' " ; , " Ghaleh - ye Iravân " ) was a 16th century fortress in Yerevan . History . The fortress was built during the Ottoman rule in 1582 – 83 by Ferhat Pasha . The fortress was destroyed by an earthquake in 1679 . After the earthquake , the ruler of Erivan Zal Khan asked the Shah for help to rebuild Erivan , including the fortress and the Palace of the Sardars . On 12 July 1679 , the vice - regent of Azerbaijan , Mirza Ibrahim , visited Erivan . He was directed to recover the fortress , the seat of the Khan of Erivan . Many villagers from Ganja , Agulis and Dasht ( Nakhchivan ) were moved to Erivan to rebuild the fortress . The forced labor continued until winter . Later , the Shah allowed everyone to return to their homes . The reconstruction of the Erivan Fortress was not finished . It was continued and finished in the following years . In October 1827 , during the Russo - Persian War of 1826 – 1829 , the Russian army by the leadership of Ivan Paskevich captured Erivan and the Erivan Fortress was not used for military purposes since then , until its complete destruction in 1930s . In 1853 , the fortress was ruined by another earthquake . In 1865 the territory of the fortress was purchased by Nerses Tairyants , a merchant of the first guild . Later in 1880s , Tairyants built a brandy factory in the northern part of the fortress . The fortress was completely demolished in 1930s during the Soviet reign , although some parts of the defensive walls still remain . Description . The Erivan Fortress was considered to be a small town separate from the city . It was separated from the city with large and unwrought space . The fortress was rectangular with a perimeter of about 4 , 000 feet ( about 1 , 200 meters ) . It was walled on three sides ; on the fourth ( western ) it was flanked by the Zangu River gorge . The gorge on the north - western part of the fortress had a depth of 300 sazhen ( 640 meters ) . As it was considered inaccessible it was not walled . The earth mound was considered as a wall . The Erivan Fortress had three gateways on its double line battlements : Tabriz , Shirvan and Korpu . The walls had towers like old eastern castles . Each wall had an iron gate , and each one had its guard . The garrison had about 2 , 000 soldiers . There were 800 houses inside the fortress . The permanent residents of the fortress were local Muslims only . Although Armenians were allowed to work in the markets during the day , they had to lock up and return to their homes in Shahar ( the main town ) at night . Interior . Sardar ' s Palace . The palace was in the north - western part of the fortress . The palace hanged on the Hrazdan gorge . It was a square wide building with many sections . The harem was one of the biggest sections , it was 200 feet long and 125 feet wide . It was divided into many rooms and corridors . This palace was built in 1798 during the reign of Huseyn - Ali khan ' s son , Mahmud . All palaces built previously had been destroyed whenever the khans built a new one . The last was built in 1798 in Persian architectural style , containing " Shushaband - ayva " ( " A Hall of Mirrors " ) , whose cornice was covered with colorful glass . The ceiling was decorated by the pictures of sparkling flowers . And in the walls of the hall were eight images drawn on the canvas : Fat ′ h - Ali Shah , Huseyn - Ghuli and Hasan , Abbas Mirza , Faramarz , etc . After the capture of Erivan by the Russians , in one of the halls of the palace , Aleksandr Griboyedov ' s famous comedy , " Woe from Wit " , was performed by the military garrison with stand by of the author . A marble memorial plaque which commemorates the performance is in the Yerevan Ararat Wine Factory , which currently occupies the location where the fortress once existed . Harem and the bath . The inner walls of khan ' s harem were covered by marble , with colorful patterns . There was a swimming pool ( measurements were 15 sazhen ( 32 meters ) in length , 4 sazhen ( 9 meters ) in width and 3 arshin ( 2 , 1 meters ) in depth ) . Mosques . There were two Persian mosques inside the Erivan Fortress . One was Rajab - Pasha Mosque ; the other was Abbas Mirza Mosque . The ruins of Rajab - Pasha Mosque remained until the beginning of the works of reconstruction of Erivan in 1930s . Only one wall of Abbas Mirza Mosque remains standing . Rajab - Pasha Mosque . This mosque was built in 1725 during the reign of Turkish Rajab - Pasha khan . It was a 4 - columned arched big building with beautiful exterior . During the Persian rule it was used as an arsenal , because it was a Sunni mosque , while Persians are Shia Muslims . In 1827 , this mosque was converted to a Russian Orthodox church , named after the Holy Virgin . Abbas Mirza Mosque ( Sardar ' s Mosque ) . This mosque was Shia and was built in the beginning of the nineteenth century , during the reign of the last khan of Erivan Khanate Huseyn - khan . It was a Shia mosque , called “ Abbas Mirza Jami ” , named for the son of Huseyn - khan . The façade was covered by green and blue glass , usually found in Azeri architecture . After the capture of Erivan by the Russians , the mosque was used as an arsenal . During Soviet times the mosque , along with other religious structures ( Armenian churches , temples and monasteries ) was derelict and currently only the frame of the mosque has been preserved .