Set atop a small ridge on the western outskirts of Gekhadzor village, Gekhadzor fortress (plate IVc) is 2.17km northwest of Sahakaberd fortress (bearing 308°) and 1.65km northeast of Hnaberd fortress (bearing 47°). The place is conspicuously marked by a large television relay antenna and small associated building (map quad B3o).
Located on the terminal end of a prow-shaped spur of Mt. Aragats, Gekhadzor is rather notably thrust forward towards the plain from the more protected flanks. Unfortunately, the fortress has been severely damaged by modern construction (map 46). The only visible fortification walls remaining defend the eastern slope of the hill, making it impossible to estimate the size of the fortress itself. However, the outcrop is 210m north to south and 78m east to west suggesting that the fortress that once occupied the hill was quite small.
Only two segments of architecture are currently visible from the surface. The surviving fortification wall on the crest of the eastern slope extends for approximately 22m although it is not visible for the entire length of this span. It appears to be well-constructed with regular blocks of medium-sized basalt stones. A second segment of architecture is visible on the eastern side of the citadel to the south of the television antenna. Here a well-carpentered wall of regular blocks 1.75 wide extends roughly north-south for 9m before turning a 90° angle to the west. The wall appears to be made of two lines of well-faced stones surrounding a rubble core.
Light to moderate densities of surface materials were visible within the fenced area of the modern antenna, most likely due to the disturbance caused by construction (fig. VI.31). Densities diminish rapidly beyond this area suggesting potentially better preserved levels on the southern end of the complex. Surface collections made in 2000 yielded a total of only 8 sherds from the north end of the fortress, all broadly assignable to the I3 period (group R). A subsequent re-visit in 2004 recovered additional 60 sherds, again all from the area around the antenna. Of these, 23 were unassignable; 2 were Late Bronze Age (group D); 17 were Iron 2b or 3a (Group J); 8 were Iron 3b or 4 (Group S); 17 were assigned to the I2 period; and a single roof tile appeared to date to the medieval period. The visible architecture and recovered ceramics strongly suggest that the primary occupation of the fortress was during the Iron 3 period, probably contemporary with the mid-1st millennium BC. occupation at Tsaghkahovit. Note should also be made of the small corpus of materials dating to the I2 period. As at Hnaberd fortress, the I2 period collection is small and inconclusive, but it does warrant further examination given the general dearth of settlement in the Tsaghkahovit plain during the Urartian era
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