Astghaberd fortress is located in Kotayk province, about 4.5 km north of the village of Hatis, on the southeastern slope of a high hill covered with basaltic lava flows of volcanic origin belonging to the Gegham mountain range. The monument is included in the Republic of Armenia's state list of immovable historical and cultural monuments.
It is organized on three artificial, stepped platforms, formed by building retaining walls into the natural slope. The fortified area is roughly rectangular, measuring about 75 × 65 m, and covers about 0.43 hectares.
A partially collapsed gate has survived in the middle of the main wall. The three interior platforms are linked to one another by a system of retaining and defensive walls. The differences in elevation between the lower and upper sections show that the builders adapted the defensive structure to the hill's natural relief.
All the walls are built of local basalt, without mortar. They are double-faced: the outer faces consist of medium and large stones, while the core is filled with small stones. Most of the walls rest directly on the natural rock. The upper section was protected from the west by a massive wall about 80 m long, whose width in different sections reaches about 3–10 meters; in some places it survives to a height of up to 3 m, with about eight courses of stone.
