Baku

Baku, the capital and commercial hub of Azerbaijan, is a low-lying city with coastline along the Caspian Sea. It's famed for its medieval walled old city, which contains the Palace of the Shirvanshahs, a vast royal complex, and the iconic stone Maiden Tower. Contemporary landmarks include the Zaha Hadid–designed Heydar Aliyev Center, and the Flame Towers, 3 pointed skyscrapers covered with LED screens.Baku (or Bakı in Azeri) is the architectural love child of Paris and Dubai…albeit with plenty of Soviet genes floating half-hidden in the background. At its heart, the UNESCO-listed İçəri Şəhər (Old City) lies within an exotically crenelated arc of fortress wall. Around this are gracefully illuminated stone mansions and pedestrianized tree-lined streets filled with exclusive boutiques. The second oil boom, which started around 2006, has turned the city into a crucible of architectural experimentation and some of the finest new buildings are jaw-dropping masterpieces.

My Travel experience to Baku..

It was totally unexpected trip to this place. My friend called up and asked if I was interested to join them through Holidayfactory.com. It was a 4day budgeted trip. I readily agreed. Within 2days we had to leave. We were 7 girls on trip. All were excited.

Day 1:

Oct 19th,2019

Landed at Baku around 11am. Since we had UAE residence visa, it was Visa on arrival for us. The Visa costed $26. By the time we were out it was 1pm. Holiday factory had the transfers and so was easy to get to the Hotel. The receptionist there was very funny guy, who looked similar to Bollywood actor Ranbir Kapoor. He knew how to entertain Indians and so he learnt to mimic the actor. Later, we enquired about restaurants for lunch and then it was tough to find food for vegetarians. But, we could get some salads, good curd and bread.

We had half a day to venture out. So took taxi to the City Centre. We all went around and finally reached Old city. Luckily, we got an English speaking guide who took us around the old city. It was almost 4hrs of walk through those narrow streets, mosques, ruins, shops, forts.

Old City or Inner City is the historical core of Baku.

Palace of the Shirvanshahs:

The Palace of the Shirvanshahs is a 15th-century palace built by the Shirvanshahs and described by UNESCO as "one of the pearls of Azerbaijan's architecture. It is located in the Inner City of Baku, Azerbaijan and, together with the Maiden Tower, forms an ensemble of historic monuments inscribed under the UNESCO World Heritage List of Historical Monuments.

Fountains Square :

Fountains Square (Azerbaijani: Fəvvarələr meydanı) is a public square in downtown Baku. The square was previously called Parapet and is often referenced to by the same name now. The name of the fountains square derives from the presence of dozens of fountains throughout the square first constructed during Soviet rule of Azerbaijan.

The square is a public gathering place, especially after business hours and during the weekend. It is an attractive tourist destination with many boutiques, restaurants, shops, hotels and passage. It starts from the Istiglaliyyat Street and walls of the Icheri Sheher and stretches through Nizami Street, also called in popular culture as the Torgovaya street running parallel to Baku Boulevard. The fountains square is a location where the city authorities hold many public festivals, shows and celebrations.

Statues of Poets:

Located next to the Nizami Museum of Azerbaijan Literature, this statue is dedicated to the many talented writers the country has produced. Completed by a number of different sculptors, the monument features Muhammad Fizuli, Molla Panah Vagif, Mirza Fatali Akhundov, Hurshidbanu Natavan, Jalil Mamedkulizadeh and Jafar Jabbarli. The building itself, which dates from 1850, represent one of the most attractive examples of city architecture.

M.A. Sabir Monument:

This monument is dedicated to Sabir, which was the pen name of Alakbar Tahirzadeh (1862-1911), a very distinguished Azerbaijani poet, satirist, public figure and professor. Sabir, who began writing at the age of eight, is considered to have single-handedly invented Azerbaijani satire. The monument is located next to Ismayliya Palace. Created in 1958, it is made of bronze, black granite and marble. Sculptor Garyagdy’s imposing work stands nine metres tall.

Old City Fortress:

The Old City is Baku’s historic center, and a UNESCO World Heritage site. The entire area remains surrounded by fortifications dating from the 11th and 12th centuries. Later additions include five gates from the 12th to 19th centuries and a number of cannons added in the 18th Century.

Muhammad Mosque:

Muhammad Mosque in Baku (Siniggala Mosque) – was built in the XI century in Icheri Sheher, Baku. The mosque is also known as Siniggala, for the name of its minaret – Siniggala (“damaged tower”). The mosque acquired its second name in 1723, when military squadron of Russian army, consisting of 15 warships and led by Admiral Matyushkin approached the city from seaside and demanded its surrender. Russian warships began to bomb the city after refusal. One of the shells hit in the minaret of Muhammad Mosque and damaged it. At that time blew stormy wind and took the Russian ships away to the sea. Population of the city interpreted it as a divine scourge sent to the occupants. From that time till the middle of the XIX century minaret of the mosque wasn’t reconstructed and was the symbol of persistence and courage of defendants of the tower.

It is the first building in Azerbaijan, which is related to Islam and dated for its architectural ligature.

According to Arabic inscription which was saved in front of doorway of northern wall of the mosque, it was built by ustad-rais Muhammad the son of Abu Bakr in 471 of Hijra. It means that the architect was not only a master-ustad, but also a rais-head of artificers’ corporation.

Mosque Juma (Cuma):

The Mosque Juma, or Friday Mosque, is a late 19th Century building erected by a local wealthy man. It sits on a site that is thought to have been the location of an ancient temple of fire worshippers. The current mosque stands out both for its cone-shaped dome and colorful ornamented tiles. The minaret which adjoins the mosque has been in place since 1437, and today represents an excellent example of traditional Azerbaijan architecture.

Lezgi Mosque :

The Lezgi Mosque is one of the oldest mosques – indeed, building of any kind – in the city. Located in Baku’s Old Town district, it stands today as a religious, historical and cultural landmark of Azerbaijan. It is thought to have been built by Najaf Ashour, son of Ibrahim, in around 1169. Then known as Ashour’s mosque, it got its current name in 1920. Today a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site, it regularly draws worshippers from all over the city.

Maiden Tower (Qiz Qalasi):

The Maiden Tower (Azerbaijani: Qız Qalası) or also known locally as Giz Galasi located in the Old City is an ancient tower with cultural affinity corroborating the presence Zoroastrians, Sassanians, Arabs, Persians, Shirvanis, Ottomans, and Russians. Built in the 12th century, as part of the walled city of Baku, the Maiden Tower, with the Shirvanshahs' Palace dated to the 15th century, are an ensemble of historic monuments. It is one of the most noted landmarks and Azerbaijan's most distinctive national emblems, and is thus featured on Azeri currency notes and other official letter heads.

The Maiden Tower houses a museum, which presents the story of historic evolution of the Baku city. It also has a gift shop. The view from the roof takes in the alleys and minarets of the Old City, the Baku Boulevard, the De Gaulle house and a wide vista of the Baku Bay. In recent years, the brazier on the top has been lit during the nights of the Novruz festival.

Consequent to the receding of the sea shore line of the Caspian Sea, a strip of land emerged. This land was developed between the 9th and 15th centuries, when the walls of the old city, the palace including the huge bastion of the Maiden Tower were built.

Wine tasting :

One must try Pomegranate Wine here. You may get many varieties in market. But make sure you taste in wine shop. In market what you get is most likely to be a syrup.

There is a Nizam street in this area, where we could find Indian Restaurants and good food.

We took the Holiday Factory tours for the next 2 days. Each day they charged us $35. So next morning we had to get ready for siteseeing by 9AM.

Day 2..

Oct 20th

After breakfast at the hotel, we boarded our bus for the siteseeing. Our main siteseeings were Qechresh, beautiful forest of Quba and Mestdergah waterfall. It was almost 3hours beautiful drive. On the way there was a small mountain kind of uphill where we all trekked. It took only 10 mins though. The green meadow on the top and the wonderful view, we all were lost into that beauty.

Qechresh is one of the largest villages in the Guba region. It is located 12 km from the district center. There are many recreation centers in the village. The area is covered with forest on all sides. Qechresh is famous for its natural springs and plants. The wild walnuts, hazelnuts, cranberry, hawthorn, hips, apples, pears and pine trees grown there. As for the animal world, the village is a home for gazelles, wolves, bears, foxes and other animals. It is also possible to catch fish in Gudjalchay, which gives a special beauty to the village. There was horse riding also done there.

Mestdergah is a beautiful waterfall of Quba. Lovely landscape for great pictures.

We had a great lunch on the way. And it was again 3hours drive back to Baku. We were dropped at Nizam street for our dinner and we came back to our hotel after that.

Day 3 ..

Oct 22nd

Qobustan or Gobustan:

The Gobustan Preserve, under an hour's drive from Baku (60 km) in eastern Azerbaijan, is home to over 6,000 ancient petroglyphs, the oldest of which are thought to date back some 40,000 years. Scenes depict people, animals, dancing and hunting rituals, battle scenes and camel caravans, and form an unparalleled insight into life in this region in pre-historic times. Here you can also discover the 'gaval dash' musical stone that gives off a tambourine sound when tapped rhythmically with smaller stones, as well as an inscription left by a Roman legion in the 1st century AD. All of this and more is neatly unravelled and explained at the excellent on-site museum.

The museum is a 6km+ walk in the opposite direction of the sea towards the hill with many rocks on, with no shade, and partially up a hill, so even the most taxi-allergic should consider this option). 09:00-17:00. This is a UNESCO World Heritage site. - This is a is a hill and mountain site occupying the southeast end of the Greater Caucasus mountain ridge in Azerbaijan, mainly in the basin of Jeyrankechmaz River, between the rivers Pirsagat and Sumgait. It is located west of the settlement of Qobustan, on the west bank of the Caspian Sea. Date back as far as the 12th century BCE. The invading armies of Alexander the Great and Trajan also left some interesting graffiti. The territory of Qobustan is cut up with numerous, sometimes rather deep ravines (in Azerbaijani: gobu). That is a suggested origin of the Qobustan geographical name. This is a national historical landmark of Azerbaijan in an attempt to preserve the ancient carvings, relics, mud volcanoes and gas-stones in the region. The mountains Boyukdash, Kichikdash, Jingirdag, and the Yazili hill were taken under legal government protection. Throughout many centuries under impact of the sun, wind, seismic activity and various atmospheric precipitation, blocks of stones broke away from the edges of a vast limestone layer and rolled down the slopes. Here, in the area displaying the fantastic scene of destruction, the huge blocks of stones and rocks chaotically pressed against each other, forming about 20 big and small caves and the canopies serving as a natural shelter to the inhabitants. - Qobustan is very rich in archaeological monuments. The reserve has more than 6,000 rock engravings dating back between 5,000 - 40,000 years. Most of the rock engravings depict primitive men, animals, battle-pieces, ritual dances, bullfights, boats with armed oarsmen, warriors with lances in their hands, camel caravans, pictures of sun and stars. Flora: The vegetative world of Qobustan has a character that is common for deserts and semi-deserts. It consists of ephemeris grasses and bushes, wormwood and similar long-term plants. Among heaps of stones and rocks a wild rose, a dwarfish cherry, Hibernian honeysuckle, a juniper, wild pear, wild fig, wild pomegranate, grapes and some other kinds of trees and bushes are rather often met decorating the stern landscape. Fauna: The fauna of Qobustan has strongly grown poor for the last decades of years. The natural inhabitants of Qobustan now are rare foxes, jackals, wolves, hares and wild cats, mountain chickens, wild pigeons, larks alongside with numerous snakes and lizards and some others. - Mud volcanoes: Azerbaijan and its Caspian coastline are home to nearly 400 mud volcanoes, more than half the total throughout the world. In 2001, one mud volcano 15 km from Baku made world headlines when it suddenly started ejecting flames 15 m high. - Many geologists as well as locals and international mud tourists trek to such places as the Firuz Crater, Qobustan, Salyan and end up happily covered in mud which is thought to have medicinal qualities. On the average, every twenty years or so, a mud volcano may explode with great force in Qobustan, shooting flames hundreds of metres into the sky, and depositing tonnes of mud on the surrounding area. The appearance of the Zoroastrian religion in Azerbaijan almost 2,000 years ago is closely connected with these geological phenomena, and Azerbaijan's etymology - Land of the Eternal Fire derives from its Zoroastrian history.

Yanar Dağ (Fire Mountain)

Thisis a natural gas fire which blazes continuously on a hillside on the Absheron Peninsula on the Caspian Sea near Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan (a country which itself is known as "the Land of Fire"). Flames jet into the air 3 metres (9.8 ft) from a thin, porous sandstone layer. Unlike mud volcanoes, the Yanar Dag flame burns fairly steadily, as it involves a steady seep of gas from the subsurface. It is claimed that the Yanar Dag flame was only noted when accidentally lit by a shepherd in the 1950s.[3] There is no seepage of mud or liquid, which distinguishes it from the nearby mud volcanoes of Lökbatan or Gobustan.

The Yanar Dag fire is never extinguished. Around this open fireplace the atmosphere is filled with the smell of gas. The flames emanate from vents in sandstone formations.The reason offered for the Yanar Dag fires is the result of hydrocarbon gases emanating from below the earth's surface.

In the 13th century, when Marco Polo visited the then-Persian city of Baku, he mentioned numerous mysterious flames that could be found all over the region at various places of the Abşeron Peninsula. These fires gave Azerbaijan the moniker “Land of Fire.” Even five centuries after Marco Polo, French writer Alexandre Dumas witnessed natural flames in a mysterious fire temple.

Fire Temple

The Baku Ateshgah often called the "Fire Temple of Baku" is a castle-like religious temple in Surakhani town. Based on Persian inscriptions, the temple was used as a Hindu, Sikh, and Zoroastrian place of worship. "Atash" (آتش) is the Persian word for fire. The pentagonal complex, which has a courtyard surrounded by cells for monks and a tetrapillar-altar in the middle, was built during the 17th and 18th centuries. It was abandoned in the late 19th century, probably due to the dwindling of the Indian population in the area. The natural eternal flame went out in 1969, after nearly a century of exploitation of petroleum and gas in the area, but is now lit by gas piped from the nearby city.

The Baku Ateshgah was a pilgrimage and philosophical centre of Zoroastrians from Northwestern Indian Subcontinent, who were involved in trade with the Caspian area via the famous "Grand Trunk Road". The four holy elements of their belief were: ateshi (fire), badi (air), abi (water), and heki (earth). The temple ceased to be a place of worship after 1883 with the installation of petroleum plants (industry) at Surakhany. The complex was turned into a museum in 1975. The annual number of visitors to the museum is 15,000.

One can see the script in Sanskrit, the Nataraj idol, Ganesh idol and "AUM" chanting in few rooms of this place.

The Temple of Fire "Ateshgah" was nominated for List of World Heritage Sites, UNESCO in 1998 by Gulnara Mehmandarova. On December 19, 2007, it was declared a state historical-architectural reserve by decree of the President of Azerbaijan.

Heydar Aliyev Center

The Heydar Aliyev Center is a 57,500 m2 (619,000 sq ft) building complex in Baku, Azerbaijan designed by Iraqi-British architect Zaha Hadid and noted for its distinctive architecture and flowing, curved style that eschews sharp angles. The center is named after Heydar Aliyev, the first secretary of Soviet Azerbaijan from 1969 to 1982, and president of Azerbaijan Republic from October 1993 to October 2003.

We couldnt go inside as it was closed. Hence, clicked pictures from outside and returned back.

Thus, ends our tour of Baku with these site seeing.

We were dropped back to Nizam street and we had good dinner and then did shopping as next day was our flight back home.

Thanks for reading! Have a great time!