Shusha

For other uses, see Shusha (disambiguation).

"Shushi" redirects here; not to be confused with Sushi or Xuxa.

Shusha / Shushi Şuşa / Շուշի
City
Landmarks of Shusha, from top left: Ghazanchetsots Cathedral • Yukhari Govhar Agha Mosque Shusha fortress • Shusha mountains House of Mehmandarovs • City center Shusha skyline • House of Khurshidbanu Natavan
Shusha / Shushi Location within Azerbaijan Shusha / Shushi Location within Karabakh Economic Region
Coordinates: 39°45′30″N 46°44′54″E
Country	Azerbaijan
Region	Karabakh
District	Shusha
Government
• Mayor	Bayram Safarov
• Special representative	Aydin Karimov
Area
• Total	5.5 km2 (2.1 sq mi)
Highest elevation	1,800 m (5,900 ft)
Lowest elevation	1,400 m (4,600 ft)
Population  (2015)
• Total	4,064
Demonym(s)	Şuşalı ("Shushaly"; in Azerbaijani ) Շուշեցի ("Shushets'i"; in Armenian)
Time zone	UTC+4 (AZT)
ISO 3166 code	AZ-SUS
Vehicle registration	58 AZ
Website	shusha-ih.gov.az

Preview warning: Page using Template:Infobox settlement with deprecated parameter settlement_type. Replace with type.

Preview warning: Page using Template:Infobox settlement with deprecated parameter timezone. Replace with time_zone.

Preview warning: Page using Template:Infobox settlement with deprecated parameter image_caption. Replace with caption.

Preview warning: Page using Template:Infobox settlement with deprecated parameter image_skyline. Replace with image.

Shusha (Azerbaijani: Şuşa, (listen)^ⓘ) or Shushi (Armenian: Շուշի) is a city in Nagorno-Karabakh, Azerbaijan. Situated at an altitude of 1.4–1.8 kilometres (4,600–5,900 ft) in the Karabakh mountains, the city was a mountain resort in the Soviet era.

The origin of the city is disputed, in the 1750s, Panah Ali Khan founded the Karabakh Khanate, and the city developed with the establishment of the fortress of Shusha. There was an alliance between Panah Ali Khan and Melik Shahnazar, the local Armenian prince (melik) of Varanda. The nearby Armenian village of Shosh (see § Etymology for further information), has been suggested as an origin of the town's name. The town has been described as an important center within the Armenian melikdoms of Karabakh in the 1720s, and the plateau has been suggested to have been the site of an already existing Armenian fortification. From the mid-18th century to 1822, Shusha was the capital of the Karabakh Khanate. The town became one of the cultural centers of the South Caucasus after the Russian conquest of the Caucasus region from Qajar Iran in the first half of the 19th century. Over the course of the 19th century, the town grew in size to become a city, and was home to many Armenian and Azerbaijani intellectuals, poets, writers and musicians (including Azerbaijani ashiks, mugham singers and kobuz players.

The town has religious, cultural and strategic importance to both groups. Shusha is often considered the cradle of Azerbaijan's music and poetry, and one of the leading centres of the Azerbaijani culture. Shusha also contains a number of Armenian Apostolic churches, including Ghazanchetsots Cathedral and Kanach Zham (demolished by Azerbaijan as of 2026), and serves as a land link between Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia, via the Lachin corridor to the west. Throughout modern history, the city fostered a mixed Armenian–Azerbaijani population. The first available demographic information about the city in 1823 suggests the city had an Azerbaijani majority. The Armenian inhabitants of the city steadily grew over time to constitute a majority of the city's population until the Shusha massacre in 1920, in which the Armenian half of the city was destroyed by Azerbaijani forces, resulting in the death or expulsion of the Armenian population, up to 20,000 people.

The city has suffered significant destruction and depopulation during the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. After the capture of Shusha in 1992 by Armenian forces during First Nagorno-Karabakh War, the city's Azerbaijani population fled, and most of the city was destroyed. Between May 1992 and November 2020, Shusha was under the de facto control of the breakaway Republic of Artsakh and administered as the centre of its Shushi Province. On 8 November 2020, Azerbaijani forces gained control of the city during the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War following a three-day long battle. The Armenian population of the city fled, and multiple reports emerged that the Armenian cultural heritage of the city was being destroyed.