On the western side of the plateau rising in the center of the town of Gavar, Gegharkunik province, are the ruins of the cyclopean fortress known as Berdi Glukh ("Fortress Head"), dating to the Early Iron Age (2nd–1st millennia BC).
The fortress's length from west to east is more than 400 meters; it begins at the steep western end of the height and ends, in the eastern part, with a wall about four meters wide. The fortress's average width from north to south is 110 meters. Together with its citadel, the fortress occupies about 5.0 hectares, of which the citadel covers 1.5 hectares.
In the central part of the fortress and the southwestern part of the citadel there are traces of dwellings, one row of whose walls is visible at the surface of the ground. Traces of dwellings are also visible on the southern slopes of the plateau.
In 1927, an Urartian inscription discovered on the fortress's territory by T. Avdalbegyan brought significant clarity to the study of the history of the land of Veliqukhi and Berdi Glukh fortress.
The inscription reads as follows: "By the might of the god Khaldi, Rusa, son of Sarduri, says: I defeated the king of the land of Veliqukhi, I made him a slave, I removed him from the land, I placed a viceroy there, I built the gate of the god Khaldi and a magnificent fortress, and I gave it the name City of the God Khaldi."
From the inscription it becomes clear that the valley of the Gavarget river was called, in the pre-Urartian period, the land of Veliqukhi; that the Urartian king Rusa I (730–714/713 BC) conquered Veliqukhi; that he built there a temple and fortress in the name of the god Khaldi, and appointed a new ruler.
Berdi Glukh fortress had two building periods — pre-Urartian and Urartian. The Urartian fortress appeared from the outside as a single whole, surrounded on four sides by strong walls, on which stood tall towers.
In the southeastern corner of the fortress there was once a huge tower, from which the entire valley of the Gavarget river and the two fortresses of Mrtbi gorge and Artsvakar could be observed. The tower's foundation measures 4 × 4 meters and is similar in construction to the fortress's other walls.
Inside, the fortress was divided by a dividing wall into two parts — western and eastern. The western part is somewhat higher and occupied less area. On its southern, western, and partly northwestern sides it is more impregnable, and it was probably here that the citadel stood. The eastern part, which is more extensive, was the walled settlement.
Berdi Glukh fortress lacked its own water source, and it is presumed that it had an underground passage, through which water could be brought from the Gavarget river during a siege of the fortress.
In the direction of the southeastern corner of Berdi Glukh, there is a bridge built of flagstones over the river. The bridge has survived almost to this day; local people call it the "Stone Bridges."
Research carried out at the fortress and the materials found there show that Veliqukhi was a notable land, with its settlement-fortresses, not only during the period of Urartian rule but also before it, from the end of the second millennium onward, and after it, up to the early centuries of our era. Historians find that although, after the fall of the Urartian kingdom, Berdi Glukh fortress and the city of Khaldi lost their significance as one of the strongholds of the kingdom of Van, life there did not cease and the settlement was not entirely abandoned.