Bjni Fortress

Bjni Fortress Բջնի Բերդ
Kotayk Province, Armenia
Remains of the fortification walls at Bjni, October 2009.
Bjni Fortress Բջնի Բերդ
Coordinates	40°27′39″N 44°39′16″E / 40.4607°N 44.6544°E / 40.4607; 44.6544
Type	Fortress
Site information
Controlled by	Pahlavuni family from the 11th to 13th centuries; Zakharyan family from the 13th to late 14th centuries
Open to the public	Yes; ask a local near the hill to show the easiest route up (there are two routes).
Condition	Some of the exterior fortress walls survive in relatively poor condition.
Site history
Built	From the 9th to 10th centuries
Built by	Pahlavuni family of the Bagratuni Dynasty
In use	As a fortress by the Pahlavuni family and possibly the Zakharyan family as well.
Materials	Stone
Demolished	Quite possibly during the destruction of the village of Bjni by the Turko-Mongol conqueror Timur Lenk in 1387-1388.

Bjni Fortress (Armenian: Բջնի Բերդ), is a medieval Armenian fortress located in the village of Bjni in the Kotayk Province of Armenia. It sits upon the top and along the sides of a mesa that divides the village nearly in half. The larger portion of which is located west of the mesa and curves south, while a smaller portion is east. The walls of the fortress may only be seen from the western side of the village, and are easiest reached via a narrow dirt road that forks (take the left fork) and goes up the side of the hill past some residences. Bjni Fortress is 1,504 metres (4,934 ft) above sea level.

The fortress of Bjni was built in the 9th to 10th centuries by the royal Pahlavuni family of the Bagratuni Dynasty. The commander of Bjni, lord Vasak Holum Pahlavuni (the Pahlavid) reconstructed the fortress. The 12th century Armenian historian Matteos Urhayetsi wrote in part 1 of the "Chronicle" covering the late 10th to early 11th centuries, of the invasions of mercenary Turkish soldiers of the Daylamis at Bjni in 1021 who went to raid and plunder villages and towns.

In this period the ruler of Delumk (Daylamis) collected troops and unexpectedly came and reached the Armenian district of Nig, near the stronghold of Bjni. Vasak, the commander-in-chief of the Armenians, with his beloved son Gregory and with other illustrious noblemen, was making merry in his castle. Vasak looked at the stony road, and lo, a man was coming in haste up the road on foot. Upon seeing him, Vasak said, "This man is a bearer of bad news." The man arrived at the gates of the fortress of Bjni and, raising an outcry, said, "The whole district of Nig has been enslaved!"

Vasak and his men became furious and pursued the enemy forces into battle near the Kasakh River killing 300 of them and causing the rest to flee. After becoming exhausted from the fighting, Vasak left the battle to find a place to rest at a mountain called Serkevelo. One of the villagers who had fled the scene, saw the commander asleep and struck him with a heavy blow. He then threw Vasak from one of the high rocks, killing him.

During the years 1387–88 the Turko-Mongol conqueror Timur Lenk destroyed the village of Bjni and most likely the castle as well. In manuscripts written by Thomas of Metsoph from the late 14th to mid-15th centuries, he left an account of Timur's invasions stating that,