Shushi

lost places : Shushi ( formerly - darkometer rating: 5 -) The second largest town in Nagorno-Karbakh , and one that played a decisive role in the war in the 1990s, when it was captured by Armenian Artsakh troops and the then Azeri population was driven out. Then in September 2020 Azerbaijan launched a military campaign in which it reconquered the town and in turn drove the Armenian population out (again – see below ). Soon after work began to repair the remaining war damage and an Azeri population returned. Apparently Sushi, now “officially” given back its Azeri name of Şuşa, has seen much investment by the government in Baku. And: not long after the recapture of the town, the Azerbaijani government sponsored tourist trips to the region and in particular this part – as an overtly propagandistic effort to paint a rosy picture and convince hapless tourists of their side of the story – see this longer Blog post that covers this dubious exploitation of tourists in more detail. Anyway, from the perspective of this website, Sushi/Şuşa is, like all of Nagorno-Karabakh , now to be regarded as a lost place . Without those older war ruins there would be little point left to visit this place as a dark tourist. And the newer war damage, e.g. of the cathedral, which had been hit by Azerbaijani shells, is allegedly also undergoing repair. The text below was written after my visit to the region in 2010. It is now outdated and only of historical interest.