Ganja Gate - In 1063 Shawur, a ruler of Shaddadid dynasty, decided to build a castle surrounding Ganja town. In this respect, 6 large gates were erected in different directions of the town. Upon Shawur"s order Azerbaijani master Ibrahim ibn Osman built this gate in 1063: "The iron gate for Ganja (or inner) castle was adorned by forged patterns and ornaments. A devastating earthquake almost entirely destroyed the town in 1139. Top part of Kapaz Mountain in the south-west of the town was broken and fell down onto Aghsu River as a result of which "Goy gol" lake and some other lakes were created. Georgian tsar I Demetri took the advantage of the earthquake attacking to and looting the defenseless Ganja. Ganja Gate was also among these trophies. Later, the iron gate was assembled in Gelati monastery in Kutaisi. As for today, a leaf of this same gate has been fastened to the wall facing I David"s grave in the yard of the monastery in question. The inscriptions in Kufi Arabic on the surviving leaf of the gate read: "With the name of Allah, the merciful and benevolent. The Excellency Sayyid Shawur ibn Al-Fazl - May Allah keep his supremacy longer! - ordered this door to be built with the help of Abul Faraj Muhammad ibn Abdulla - Let Allah give success to him too. Smith Ibrahim ibn Osman Angaveyh"s work. (1063)". Funny is that, tourists visiting the Gelati monastery are told that the Ganja Gate was looted by Georgian tsar as a result of a victorious war against the Seljuks. But at that time, in fact, Georgians did not have such power to fight against Seljuk rulers. As for the other leaf of the gate, we read the followings in the IV volume of Azerbaijan Soviet Encyclopedia: "During the restoration of the monastery in the 18th century, one leaf of the Ganja Gate was used in roofing the monastery." On the basis of archaeological materials found, ancient Ganja Gate has been restored. The doors are 3.70 m high and 3.40 m wide. There are 56 different cast iron lists in the upper part of the gate and they have been firmly connected by crucifixes.

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