Heritage Sites

When Baku’s oil industry boomed in the late 1800s, a new architectural layer appeared around the Old City. Blending Gothic, baroque, neoclassical and art nouveau, these buildings nonetheless blended harmoniously into the urban landscape, leading visitors to nickname Baku the ‘Paris of the Caucasus’. Largely ignored during the Soviet era, local enthusiasts have since thoroughly researched these oil-boom buildings, shaping their secrets into thrilling architectural walking tours. Many of them were designed by German and Polish architects, lending parts of central Baku a distinctly European feel. For the most prominent example of German architecture in Baku, visit the neo-Gothic style Church of the Saviour on 28 May Street.

Ten kilometres south of Ganja, the story of Azerbaijan’s German colonists began in 1819 with the founding of a village called Helenendorf (now Goygol). Besides becoming a hub of German culture in the Caucasus, Helenendorf was also famous for its burgeoning wine industry that sold wine and spirits throughout the Russian Empire. The Germans may have gone – they were deported by Stalin in 1941 – but the Goygol Winery still functions and their presence continues to be felt in the town’s old German streets lined by towering plane trees. Over 300 distinctly German houses remain, one of which is the Victor Klein House, the former residence of Goygol’s last German and now a museum. Nearby is Azerbaijan’s first Lutheran church which was built in 1854 and today also houses a small museum collection. All the main sights can be discovered with the help of interactive info boards.

Modern Shamkir began life as the German colony of Annenfeld which was founded in 1819 and went on to become a hotbed of winemaking in Azerbaijan. The Germans were tragically deported from here in 1941 but today the city centre has kept a uniquely Germanic feel – think long straight streets with original German country housing, a Lutheran church dating back to 1909, and a German park with café, paths and benches. What’s more, the centrally located Excelsior hotel serves authentic craft beer homebrewed according to a German recipe.

The residents of Helenendorf, now Goygol, laid the foundations for Azerbaijan’s modern wine industry. It all began in 1860, when a local man called Christopher Vohrer expanded his vineyards into a family business which within a generation grew into Azerbaijan’s largest wine producer, and the first to export to Europe. Together with another winemaking family called the Hummels, the Vohrers helped forge a full-fledged wine industry whose legacy can be experienced by visiting the Goygol Winery. Tastings take place in the original German cellar dating back to 1860, although go easy if you plan to taste all 15 types of wine and brandy in just one sitting!

The history of the town of Gadabay in the Lesser Caucasus Mountains is tightly linked to the German Siemens brothers and their copper mining operations here in the late 19th century. A copper mine had already existed in Gadabay, but the Siemens brothers introduced modern methods as well as constructing a 28-kilometre railway connecting the mines with a copper smelting plant in Galakend – an engineering masterpiece given the complexity of the mountainous terrain.

Visiting Gadabay today, you can still see some of the German-style brick housing the Siemens brothers left behind after abandoning the area shortly after World War I. Look out for the miners’ old administrative building (now the Agricultural Seed Office) and the Culture House (now a library) in particular. And if you travel about 30-40 kilometres further into the mountains, preferably with a local guide, you can also discover the spectacular remains of arched bridges from the Siemens’ pioneering narrow-gauge railway.

The territory of Mingachevir was inhabited over 5,000 years ago and is thought to have been located on the former Silk Road. However, the modern city was built after World War II with the help of 10,000 German PoWs who were brought to construct the vast Mingachevir hydroelectric power station. The German influence is still visible in several buildings in the city centre such as the Drama Theatre and a few German-style apartment blocks. There is also a German PoW cemetery at the foot of nearby Bozdag Mountain. Elsewhere, the Kura River runs through Mingachevir and is central to local life: the city has long been famous for its superb rowing centre, and you can visit a local fish farm, stroll along the pleasant riverside boulevard and dine at local fish restaurants. If you visit in summer, consider taking a dip in the vast Mingachevir reservoir.

Located opposite Guba city on the northern banks of the Gudiyalchay river, Red Settlement (also known as Girmizi Gasaba or Krasnaya Sloboda) is a truly unique place to visit. Characterised by its red-tiled roofs, this village is thought to have once been the only entirely Jewish settlement outside of Israel and the United States and the world’s last surviving shtetl. Its residents are Mountain Jews whose ancestors have been living in the Guba region for centuries. Founded in the mid-18th century, the village thrived under the protection of the ruling Guba khan, becoming a diverse yet closed community of Mountain Jews. And in the centuries since it has survived plenty of upheavals, maintaining its own culture and traditions, as well as the unique Juhuri language. A landmark new museum opened here in 2019.

Since first migrating to Baku in the early 1800s, Ashkenazi Jews have left an indelible mark on the city’s culture and landscape. Several synagogues still exist in the city: the synagogue of European and Georgian Jews which opened in 2003 and is considered one of the largest synagogues in Europe, and the Synagogue of Mountain Jews which has been functioning since 1945 and following reconstruction in 2011 is well worth seeing for anyone interested in Azerbaijan’s Jewish heritage. The very first synagogue in the city, however, was what is today’s Rashid Behbudov State Song Theatre, which was built in 1901 and functioned as a synagogue between 1910 and 1934.

Oguz in north-west Azerbaijan was historically one of the main Jewish settlements in the country whose Jewish population peaked in 1930-1933 at 2,000-2,500 residents. A unique community formed here of Jews and Muslims living together harmoniously, sharing holidays and traditions. While many left following the fall of the USSR, still some members of this community remain, with several Jewish-style houses (featuring Jewish ornaments and often facing towards Jerusalem) and two synagogues and cemeteries offering a window into the town’s Jewish past. The synagogues are named simply the Upper and the Lower due to their location in the town. The Lower Synagogue was built in 1849 and was the first synagogue in Oghuz, while the Upper Synagogue was built in 1897 and, completely restored in 2006, is visited every Friday and Saturday by Oghuz’s remaining Jewish population for prayers.

Baku’s medieval core is a UNESCO-protected site surrounded by 12th-century walls, brimming with history and Eastern architecture. Here you’ll find the Maiden Tower, Baku’s most mysterious site – no one knows for certain what it was originally built for! Meanwhile, occupying the highest spot in the citadel, the Shirvanshahs’ Palace was the 15th-century residence of Azerbaijan’s medieval rulers. Beyond its main attractions, the ‘Inner City,’ as it’s called by the locals, is a labyrinth of narrow alleyways home to some of Baku’s oldest residents, as well as artists’ workshops, souvenir stalls and traditional restaurants serving classic Azerbaijani dishes.

Shamakhi’s greatest landmark is Juma Mosque, one of Azerbaijan’s largest and most lavish places of worship. While the current structure was reconstructed in 2013, the earliest version was built way back in 743AD, making this the second oldest mosque in the Caucasus and the oldest in Azerbaijan. Since then it has been destroyed and rebuilt several times, most notably during the devastating earthquake that reduced Shamakhi to rubble in 1859 and later by inter-ethnic clashes in 1918. Besides discovering its historical and religious significance, you can enjoy simply basking in the site’s elegance and tranquillity.

Located roughly 7 km north of Ganja is one of Azerbaijan’s most important religious sites. The Imamzadeh Mausoleum (also known as the Goy dome, the Goy Mosque or the Goy Imam) was built in various stages beginning from the 14th century around the grave of one of the sons of the 5th Shiite Imam, Muhammed al-Baqir. Over the years the grave developed into a mausoleum and then a complex. A series of mosques and caravanserais surrounded by fortress walls appeared and disappeared until between 2010 and 2016 the complex was completely restored. Look out especially for the mausoleum’s exquisite blue-tiled dome, decorated with peacocks and floral patterns.

Spend half a day strolling the city centre, home to Ganja’s main historical attractions. On the central square, browse the Shah Abbas Mosque complex and medieval baths, built during the Safavid dynasty that governed Azerbaijan for over 200 years. Discover the nearby mausoleum to Javad Khan, the last khan of Ganja, following whose death Ganja became part of the Russian Empire and then the Soviet Union. Traces of that are clearly visible in several more buildings around the square: the grand city hall exudes Socialist Classicism, while the Ganja Hotel and Academy of Sciences opposite are grand, imposing and Stalinist. From the square head south-west to the Khan’s Garden, a six-hectare urban oasis that’s one of Azerbaijan’s oldest parks, and don't miss the nearby Agricultural University building, which briefly housed the government of Azerbaijan’s first independent republic in 1918.

This region is also scattered with unique architectural monuments. Nakhchivan city is home to some of the best: the 12th-century Mausoleum of Momine Khatun is a shining example of the so-called ‘Nakhchivan school’ – a medieval form of architecture characterised by its red bricks, turquoise tiles and geometric patterns. It was built by acclaimed architect of the period Ajemi Nakhchivani to honour the beloved wife of powerful local ruler Shamsaddin Eldeniz. On one of the tomb’s 10 sides is written: “We depart but the world stays, we die but leave monuments behind.”

Driving the scenic route from Nakhchivan to Ordubad, you’ll notice an iconic sight dominating the horizon: the cleft peak of Mount Ilandag (Snake Mountain) is said to have been carved out by Noah’s Ark as the Great Flood receded. Nakhchivan is laced with legends, and none are more intriguing than the local belief that Noah landed, lived and died here. Noah’s Mausoleum in Nakhchivan City is another of the region’s must-see attractions which, according to an onsite plaque, has existed since the 4th millenium BC and has been renovated several times throughout history, most recently in 2008.

With its Silk Road heritage and significance as the capital of the powerful state ruled by the Shirvanshahs during the Middle Ages, Shamakhi has an undeniably rich history. Little of the historic city remains apart from the ruins of Narin Qala, Gulustan and Bughurt – fortresses once protecting Shamakhi but now sitting reclaimed by nature on remote mountaintops. Hiking to them is a wonderful way of experiencing the Caucasus Mountains. History hunters should also visit the Yeddi Gumbaz (Seven Domes) cemetery complex, perched on a grassy hill with great views back over the city. The complex houses seven large tombs belonging to the last ruler of the Shirvan Khanate (1748-1820) and his family, and are typical of the Shirvan architectural school. Also buried here is one of Azerbaijan’s most celebrated poets, Mirza Alakbar Sabir, whose satirical poems were frequently published in Molla Nasreddin, a celebrated magazine of the early 20th century.

Picturesque Zagatala is a great place to get to grips with the fascinating history of the north-western region. The top attraction are the remains of a vast fortress built here to house a Russian military garrison in the 1830s which later became famous as the place where the mutineers of the Battleship Potemkin – a key episode in the run-up to the Russian Revolution – were imprisoned in 1907. Today, what’s left are the impressive fortified walls along with the ruins of a water reservoir, stables, gunpowder warehouse, cannons and former Russian church turned cultural club. An onsite guide will happily show you around them.

Meanwhile, just beneath the fortress walls on the central Dede Gorgud Square is the well-preserved structure of a disused Albanian church dating to the 5th-6th centuries, though the current building is an 1830s red-brick reconstruction used by the Russian soldiers in the fortress. It consists of three-storeyed halls complete with bell tower and columns. To learn more about Zagatala’s intriguing history, call into the local history museum on Heydar Aliyev Avenue.

Shamkir has a rich history long predating the German period. To discover it, step inside the local History and Ethnography Museum located at the back of the Lutheran church that charts the city’s development, beginning with the Persian Achaemenid Empire (550BC). Better still, head 10 kilometres east of the city to investigate the ruins of medieval Shamkir, located north of the village of Muktariyat on the left bank of the Shamkirchay river. Here, a fortress and citadel thrived on the Silk Road between the 8th and 13th centuries, when it was sacked by the Mongols and never fully recovered. Excavations beginning in 2006 have made it possible to see significant chunks of a fortress called Naringala, plus the remnants of streets and buildings considered rare examples of the Arran architectural school.

Azerbaijan’s answer to Machu Picchu? Alinja Castle! A medieval fortress sitting atop a cragged mountaintop in the Julfa region. The site is actually a recent reconstruction of the former fortress used by Nakhchivan’s various ruling dynasties of the Middle Ages, including the Seljuks, Atabeys and Safavids. The castle was famed for being near impregnable, though it was eventually sacked by legendary Turko-Mongol ruler Tamerlane in 1401, albeit only after a 14-year struggle. Legend has it that Tamerlane then used the castle to house his treasury and local tales claim his treasures may still be hidden somewhere in the surrounds. Visit the museum at the bottom to discover this rich history, then climb the 1,500 steps to the summit for the breathtaking views of Nakhchivan’s epic landscape.

Baku’s medieval core is a UNESCO-protected site surrounded by 12th-century walls, brimming with history and Eastern architecture. Here you’ll find the Maiden Tower, Baku’s most mysterious site – no one knows for certain what it was originally built for! Meanwhile, occupying the highest spot in the citadel, the Shirvanshahs’ Palace was the 15th-century residence of Azerbaijan’s medieval rulers. Beyond its main attractions, the ‘Inner City,’ as it’s called by the locals, is a labyrinth of narrow alleyways home to some of Baku’s oldest residents, as well as artists’ workshops, souvenir stalls and traditional restaurants serving classic Azerbaijani dishes.

Take a break from an itinerary packed with sightseeing and spend a morning or afternoon simply wandering the cobbled streets of Sheki’s historic old town, an area that was recently added to UNESCO’s World Heritage List. Soak up the bucolic atmosphere, admire the intricate brickwork and hunt for some historical relics. This upper part of the city is made up of 19th-century merchant housing with distinctive gabled roofs, mosques and hammams, reflecting Sheki’s long history as a former hub of the silk trade. You can visit house museums to local literary heroes Mirza Fatali Akhundzade and Bakhtiyar Vahabzade and call into the Sheki Khans’ House. For a Quintessential Silk Road experience in Sheki, stop for tea and sweets or better still spend a night at Karvansaray, an authentic 18th-century caravanserai-turned-hotel.

Spend half a day strolling the city centre, home to Ganja’s main historical attractions. On the central square, browse the Shah Abbas Mosque complex and medieval baths, built during the Safavid dynasty that governed Azerbaijan for over 200 years. Discover the nearby mausoleum to Javad Khan, the last khan of Ganja, following whose death Ganja became part of the Russian Empire and then the Soviet Union. Traces of that are clearly visible in several more buildings around the square: the grand city hall exudes Socialist Classicism, while the Ganja Hotel and Academy of Sciences opposite are grand, imposing and Stalinist. From the square head south-west to the Khan’s Garden, a six-hectare urban oasis that’s one of Azerbaijan’s oldest parks, and don't miss the nearby Agricultural University building, which briefly housed the government of Azerbaijan’s first independent republic in 1918.

Housed in the former residence of the last direct descendant of the Talysh khans, Mir Ahmad, the regional history museum collection documents his eventful life through sepia photos and former belongings, as well as exhibiting plenty of local art alongside items and implements dating back as far as the Bronze Age. Built in 1913 in a style mixing modern and national elements, the house is the main attraction and used to be the tallest building in the city, occupying a prime position with views of the Caspian and the Talysh Mountains.

Within walking distance from here, the House Museum of World War II Hezi Aslanov lies in a quiet residential street and recounts the life and mysterious death of the only Azerbaijani to twice be awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. Lankaran was once surrounded by impressive fortress walls which were demolished after the Russians seized the city in 1813. However, keep an eye out for the two remaining towers, one of which now functions as a lighthouse and the other, currently inoperative, was previously a prison whose most famous inmate was a young Josef Stalin.

While in Nakhchivan City, history lovers shouldn’t miss visiting the Nakhchivan Khans’ Palace, whose exquisite Oriental style blends almost seamlessly into the region’s orange-hued terrain. Between the mid-18th century and early 20th century, the building was the residence of the rulers of the Nakhchivan Khanate, one of many small independent statelets to appear in the Caucasus and Iran following the death of Nadir Shah in 1747. Formerly a carpet museum, since 2010 the palace’s richly ornamented three floors complete with shebeke stained glass windows have housed a museum devoted to this fascinating period in Azerbaijani history.

Resting in the shade of 500-year-old plane trees at the top of Sheki, the lavishly decorated Palace of Sheki Khans is our most exquisite architectural monument of the khanate period. It was built in the late 18th century as the ruling Sheki Khan’s summer residence in the cool foothills of the Caucasus Mountains. The local rulers clearly had an eye for detail: the palace is laden with intricate details both inside and out, from sprawling frescoes to geometrically patterned tiles. The palace’s windows are also the best place to see one of Sheki’s signature crafts – shebeke, a technique of filling wooden lattices with thousands of pieces of coloured glass fitted together without glue or nails. Take a tour with one of the knowledgeable onsite guides who will help bring the place to life.

Baku’s extraordinary landscape, rich in oil and subterranean gases, has intrigued travellers since time immemorial and for centuries the Ateshgah Fire Temple in the village of Surakhani has been attracting crowds of thrill seekers. Built in the 17th–18th centuries around naturally burning flames which were previously worshipped by Zoroastrians, the site was then an important place of pilgrimage for fire-worshipping Hindus until the 1880s. Today it houses a well-designed museum and is often coupled with a trip to nearby Yanardag, the Burning Mountain in Mammadli village where a 10-metre wall of flames blazes day and night at the base of a hillside. These natural flames were described by Marco Polo in the 13th century and continue to mesmerise those who visit the site. Today you can learn all about them at the beautifully arranged new museum complex.

From prehistoric rock art to musical stones, the Azerbaijani people’s age-old past is dramatically brought to life in the UNESCO-listed Gobustan Reserve, where an astonishing collection of over 6,000 ancient petroglyphs chart ways of life dating back as far as 40,000 years. The reserve is located among the Boyukdash, Kichikdash and Jingirdagh mountains, about 60 kilometres south of Baku, and is also home to the remains of once inhabited caves, settlements and burial grounds, all reflecting intensive human use from the Upper Palaeolithic to the Middle Ages. What’s more, just a short drive away you’ll find some of Azerbaijan’s astonishing number of mud volcanoes, one of the world’s most intriguing natural wonders.

Located just over 20 kilometres south-west of Gabala, the village of Nij is home to the largest population of Udi people anywhere in the world. Udis are a Christian people directly descended from one of the main tribes living in Caucasian Albanian, an ancient state existing across much of today’s Azerbaijan from about 3BC to 8AD. In fact, they still speak an endangered language that is essentially the same as that of the ancient Albanians. Explore the history and culture of this warm community by visiting the beautifully restored 17th-century Albanian church (Chotari Church) which sits shaded by magnificent plane trees not far from the village centre.

History enthusiasts shouldn’t miss calling into the village of Chukhur Gabala, 15 kilometres south-west of Gabala, to discover the ruins of the ancient city of Gabala – a major trade and social hub along the Silk Road between about 4BC and 18AD and once the capital of the ancient state of Caucasian Albania. The site has been researched by archaeologists since 1929, revealing many historical treasures including a medieval water supply system, coins and ceramics, burial sites and the remnants of buildings harking back to diverse historical eras. The highlight, though, are two round brick towers and parts of a fortress wall that once formed the city’s southern entrance. After exploring the 25-hectare site’s excavation areas by car and on foot, browse the nearby contemporary museum which tells you all you need to know about the area’s history.

Just five kilometres from Sheki, travel to the picturesque village of Kish to explore Albanian temple, one of our greatest monuments of Caucasian Albania – an ancient state that existed here from about 3BC to 8AD. The core of this beautiful church is thought to date to 1AD, yet archaeologists have discovered evidence that a cultic site existed here as early as 3,000BC! The church now functions primarily as a museum to Caucasian Albania and features a host of Bronze Age ceramics discovered during excavations carried out in the early 2000s by a joint Azerbaijani-Norwegian team, as well as glass-covered vaults displaying ancient graves with two-metre long skeletons.

The quiet town of Ordubad in eastern Nakhchivan is famous for its bountiful orchards and for producing the most delicious lemons in the Caucasus. This was once an important trade hub located on the Silk Road dealing especially in silk and fruits and today its multiple quarters consisting of narrow winding streets, water springs, bathhouses and mosques are part of an architectural and historical reserve. Historical monuments include a 14th-century ice house, the Geysariyye monument – a 17th-century bazaar and now history museum, and the Juma Mosque built way back in 1604. There are also house museums to outstanding academician Yusif Mammadaliyev and local writer Mammad Said Ordubadi. North-west from Ordubad in the Lesser Caucasus Mountains are the millennia-old Gamigaya rock carvings, although to visit those you’ll need to take an organised tour.