Sights of Azerbaijan

By | June 10, 2022

According to prozipcodes, Baku, the capital and largest city of the country, is located on the shores of the bay of the same name, located in the southern part of the Absheron Peninsula. The entire old part of the city is one vast historical and architectural reserve, sometimes called the “Baku Acropolis”. The main attractions of the Old City, mentioned in ancient sources, are the Palace of the Shirvanshahs in the “Old Fortress” of Icheri-Sheher, the “Maiden Tower” of Gyz-Galasy, the mausoleum of Seyid Yahya Bakuvi, caravanserais – Multani, Bukhara, Mollakhana, numerous mosques – Muhammad ibn Abu-Bakr, Mirza-Ahmed, Molla-Ahmed, Juma, Lezgi, a mosque-madrasah, baths, a trading complex, the House of Baku khans, as well as numerous rich buildings. Also of interest are the Cathedral of the Holy Myrrh-bearing Women of the Russian Orthodox Church, a colorful Iranian district, embankment, 7 theaters, about 30 museums, including the Museum of Arts, the Museum of the History of Azerbaijan, the unique Azerbaijan Museum of Carpets, Folk Applied Arts, etc. 70 km. south of Baku is the largest accumulation of rock paintings discovered in the CIS – Kobystan (Gobustan), which includes more than 4 thousand unique rock sites, caves, rock fortresses and burial grounds, spread over an area of more than 100 square meters. km. Spotted with petroglyphs, many of which are more than 10 thousand years old, these historical monuments are united in a historical and cultural reserve. 30 km. north-east of Baku lies the village of Surakhani, in which the unique temple complex of fire worshipers “Ateshgah” is located, on the site of the sacred “unquenchable fires” – burning outlets of natural gas. Scattered throughout the Absheron peninsula are fortresses built by the Shirvan shahs – Ramana, Nardaran, two castles in Mardakan, the Tuba-Shahi mosque, the sunken ruins of the mysterious Bailov castle, as well as various fortifications in Shuvelany, Buzovna, Bilgya, on the island of Pirallahi, Kala, Mashtagi, Fatmai, Baladzhary, Amirjany, Sabunchi, Kishly, etc. Also attractive is the Shikhovo balneological resort built on hydrogen sulfide sources.

In the very north-east of the country, the city of Shabran is located, which was part of the system of Derbent fortifications of the Middle Ages. Here, in the narrow “Jalgan corridor”, formed by the end of the Greater Caucasus ranges and the coast of the Caspian Sea, a whole system of walls and defensive structures has been preserved, forming a powerful defensive knot, since ancient times, defending the territory of the country from attacks from the north. The system of fortifications of the region also includes the fortresses of Gilgilchay, Beshbarmag, the mountain fortress of Chirag-kala, etc. The city of Cuba, the capital of the ancient Cuban khanate, lies 165 km away. north of Baku, in the very heart of the defensive zone of the “Jalgan corridor”. One of the most beautiful cities in the country, literally blooming in the spring with gardens and parks, the city is famous for its 16th-century fortress, the Cathedral Mosque, the Sakina Khanum Mosque, the Ardabil Mosque, medieval baths, the rich Historical Museum of Local Lore and, undoubtedly, the famous Cuban carpets. In the vicinity of the city, the Tenga Canyon, the Afurdzhinsky waterfall, the settlement of mountain Jews Krasnaya Sloboda, the mausoleum of Sheikh Yusif in the village of Shykhlyar, the mausoleum of Sheikh Juneyd in Khazra and the picturesque Khudat seashore deserve attention. Shamakhi is one of the oldest and most interesting cities in the country, located 130 km. west of the capital. Founded approximately in the 5th century. BC e., in the ninth century. n. e. the city was already the capital of the vast Shirvan kingdom, and in the XVIII century. – Shemakhan Khanate. The main attraction of the city is the Gyz-Galasy fortress – the last refuge of the Shirvanshahs. No less interesting are the mausoleum of Eddi-Gumbez (“Seven Domes”) with numerous graves of the rulers of Shamakhi, the Juma Cathedral Mosque (X century, rebuilt in the XIX century), the house-museum and the grave of the satirist poet A. T. Sabir and numerous ruins buildings of the X-XVII centuries. Today it is also a recognized center for winemaking and carpet weaving. Sheki is located 380 km. west of Baku, near the Georgian border. Archaeological evidence suggests that the city can be considered one of the oldest settlements in the Caucasus, many finds on its territory are more than 2500 years old.

From a tourist point of view, the summer palace with luxurious wall paintings and openwork “shebeke” windows, a stone fortress, numerous caravanserais, the Shekikhanovs’ house, the Juma mosque, the minaret of the Gileily mosque, medieval baths, a rich local history museum, as well as a house-museum a native of this city, M. F. Akhundov. Also, the city has been famous since ancient times as a center of silk production and a climatic resort. In the vicinity of Sheki, many unique monuments of history and culture have been preserved – the Kumbazi towers in Kutkashen, the Gelesen-Geresen fortress north of Sheki, the Sumug fortress and the mosque in Ilisu, the Kish fortress and mausoleum, the fortress in Yukhar-Ardakhlar, the tower and temple in Orta-Zeyzit, mausoleum in Babaratma, fortress in Kakh, the ruins of the Shamil fortress near Zakatala and the Zakatala reserve. The region itself is an amazingly beautiful mountainous area, intricately cut by deep and narrow valleys, with many springs, clean rivers, waterfalls and mineral springs, framed by dense forests and alpine meadows. Lankaran, the former capital of the Talysh Khanate, is located in the very southeast of Azerbaijan, on the border with Iran. The city and its environs lie in a zone with a predominance of a subtropical climate, which left an imprint on the nature of the region, turning it into one of the best balneo-climatic resorts in the country. The city itself is interesting for the Lankaran fortress and the Kichik-Bazar mosque. 100 km. north of Lankaran lies one of the most beautiful cities of the Middle Ages – Khaneg, in which the fortress walls, the mosque and the tomb of Pir Hussein have been preserved, minaret and other ancient structures. At the very confluence of the Kura into the sea lies the ancient city of Neftchala, in which the Goltug fortress and the remains of sunken defensive structures, the Khylly mosque and the Piratavan sanctuary are of interest. And to the north-west of the city, in the interfluve of the Kura and Araks, archaeologists continue to discover more and more historical monuments – the ancient city of Orenkala (Bailakan), the mounds of Mukhurtepe, Gyzyltepe, Garatepe, Goshatepe, etc., and along the border with Nagorno-Karabakh stretches a whole series of medieval monasteries, mausoleums, castles and fortified towers. The nearby coast of the Caspian Sea is a wide strip of nature reserves, resorts and fishing towns alternating between themselves, stretching from Talysh to the Alyat ridge. Coastal areas near the mouth of the Kura have been known since ancient times as fishing places, and today it is one of the traditional sturgeon fishing areas. To the south, along the very Azerbaijani-Iranian border, an extended chain of the Talysh mountains stretches.

This is one of the most exotic regions of the country – here, in the folds of the mountains, in the subtropical climate zone, luxurious broad-leaved and mixed forests have been preserved, in which you can find many representatives of the ancient Hyrcanian flora. The most beautiful landscapes of green mountains cut by gorges with raging rivers, numerous thermal and mineral springs, clean air and luxurious nature – all this makes these places famous as one of the best resorts in the country. Arkevan hot mineral springs are located near Jalilabad. Gabala (Kabala) is one of the oldest cities in the country, the political and religious center of Caucasian Albania, known in Arabic sources as Khazar. Today, the city mosque, the mausoleums of sheikhs Badreddin and Mansur in Khazra, the castles of Ajinne-Tepe and Sary-Tepe in the Kazakh region are of interest here. No less interesting is the city of Ganja, the former capital of the Ganja Khanate. The cult complex of Gey-Imam, the Juma mosque and many colorful old houses have been preserved here, and countless historical monuments are concentrated on the nearby lands of the Mingachevir region, including the complex of architectural monuments of Gey-Imam and the famous stone statues of horses and other domestic animals that are found in abundance. in the surrounding mountains. Nakhichevan (Nakhchivan) is one of the oldest cities in Azerbaijan. Already in the VI century. BC e. there was a city on this site, in the XI century. which became the capital of the Seljuk state, and in the XII century. – the capital of the state of Ildegizids. The main attractions of the city are the mausoleums of Yusuf ibn-Kuseyir and Momine-Khatun, the Literary and Historical Museum, the art gallery and the Gyaur-Kala fortress are also interesting. The city of Ordubad has been known since the 12th century. The mosques of Juma and Dilber, madrassas, the Khan’s palace and many medieval buildings, united in the state historical and architectural reserve, are of interest here. 60 km south of Ordubad on Mount Gemigaya (Kemchigaya) there is an area of ​​concentration of rock petroglyphs.

Sights of Azerbaijan