Places to visit in Azerbaijan
Places to visit in Azerbaijan are the best part of the organization of the trip. In Azerbaijan, many beautiful places are waiting for Your visit. If You need more information about those places please read the following article about Top Visiting Places in Azerbaijan.
1. Palace of Shirvanshahs
The palace of the Shirvanshahs, built at the beginning of the 15th century, was the residence of the Shirvanshahs for a while. The palace complex consists of several buildings. In addition to the palace building, the complex includes the divan khana, the tomb of the Shirvanshahs, the royal mosque, the ovdan, the bath, the building, and the eastern gate, which is tentatively considered to be the tomb of Seyyed Yahya Bakuvi. The most interesting and beautiful building of the complex is the monument known as Divankhana, which was built next to the palace.
2. Sheki Khan Palace
Sheki Khan Palace is included in the list of world monuments. The summer palace of the Sheki Khans was built in 1761-1762 during the reign of Huseyn Khan, the grandson of Haji Chalabi Khan, who founded the first independent Khanate in Azerbaijan. In some sources, this palace is also mentioned as a “Mushtaq building”.
The Khan’s palace is surrounded by fortress walls. The Khan’s palace is two-story and consists of six rooms, four corridors, and two mirrored balconies.
The main facade of the building consists of grid windows and doors, divided into the smallest, geometrical figures, which have no analogues in the world, and covered with different colored glass between the wooden pieces. Each square meter of nets consists of an average of 5,000, and in complex places 14,000 wood and glass nets. Nails and glue were not used in the building, and pieces of wood and glass were fitted together. The ornamentation of the palace wall, the width of the pillars, patterned nets, various patterns, and carvings on the roof are skillfully worked out. The walls and ceiling of the rooms are decorated with beautiful patterns. After seeing the palace, Turkish poet Nazim Hikmet said: “If there were no other ancient buildings of Azerbaijan, it would be enough to show the world only Shaki Khan’s palace.”
3. Gobustan
The land of Gobustan is rich in archaeological monuments. To date, 30 barrows and about 20 primitive human camps have been discovered here. They are made of large limestone.
Paintings engraved by our ancient ancestors can also be found on the Beyukdash, Kichkdash, Jingyrdag, and Yazili hills. There are primitive people, animals, battle scenes, ritual dances, bullfights, boats filled with armed oarsmen, spear-wielding warriors, camel caravans, sun and star images.
4. Nizami mausoleum
Those who come to the city of Ganja, one of the ancient residential centers of Azerbaijan, first encounter the mausoleum of the genius Nizami, who is considered one of the pearls of world literature. The construction of the tomb is attributed to the XIII-XIV centuries. Later, it was repaired by Mirza Adigozel Bey Karabagi and Asgaraga Gorani. In 1947, a new mausoleum was built over the poet’s grave. The mausoleum was rebuilt in 1990-1991, and modernized while preserving ancient architectural traditions. Currently, the central alley of the mausoleum is 125 meters long and 40 meters wide. 5 large fountains were built in the area around the 20.9-meter-high mausoleum as a symbol of the poet’s “Khamsa”.
5. Baku Old Town (Iceri Sheher, Old City)
Baku is one of the ancient cultural, commercial, and political centers of Azerbaijan. Its favorable geographical position has turned this city into an important settlement where trade routes connecting West and East, South and North meet from time immemorial. During the medieval Shirvan state, Baku was especially developed and became one of the main centers of science, culture, and art of the country. Baku’s Maiden’s Castle, Shirvanshakhlar Palace complex, and medieval architectural examples such as the castle walls have been included in UNESCO’s World Cultural Heritage List. In the Middle Ages, the arts of jewelry, artistic embroidery, weapon-making, and stone carving were especially developed in Baku.
6. Atesgah (Fire Temple)
The Ateshgah temple located in Surakhani was built by Indian fire worshipers who saw the burning of oil gas coming out of the ground and considered this place sacred in the 17th century. Indian priests worshiped here until the end of the 19th century.
7. Maiden Tower
Located in Baku, this ancient monument is located in the “Inner City” near the coast. Its height is 30 m, the thickness of its walls is 5 m. Maiden’s Castle was built by Masud Davud Oglu in the 12th century.
The Maiden’s Castle, which was restored in the 1960s, began to function as a museum in 1964. In 2000, it was included in the list of UNESCO monuments.
8. Kish village, Sheki
The village is located 5 km away from Sheki, on the bank of the Kish river, in the foothills. It is one of the ancient settlements. Albanian historian Movses Kalankatli’s work “History of Albania” mentions his name as Kis. The territory of the village with a population of 7000 people is suitable for tourism. The main part of the village, which is surrounded by mountains on four sides, is located at the foot of “Tat” mountain. The Kish river, which takes its source from the mountains of the Lesser Caucasus range, flows from the edge of the village and is surrounded by forest.