An Evening in Baku, Azerbaijan

My previous post here describes our journey across Azerbaijan, arriving in Baku station at 16:34. It was already becoming dusk and I was quite ready to retire to a hotel room but the organisers had decided that our walking tour of the Old City, which had been planned for that morning, would take place before we checked into our hotel.

A little background

The history of the area now forming Azerbaijan is very complex. There's a useful Wikipedia article here but I found a three-minute animation from 'Cartographious' here which shows the various changes informative. Use the 'Back Button' to return here. Imperial Russia, seeing the strategic importance of the area, pursued a series of wars against Persia and eventually managed to wrest control, as shown in another animation, this time from 'EmperorTigerstar', here. Use the 'Back Button' to return here.

The astonishing wealth-creation and growth of Baku in the 19th century resulted from the unique geology of the area. The world's first oil well was drilled at Bibiheybat, Baku in 1846 and the increasing demands for petroleum products both in the Russian Empire and in the West had attracted the attentions of the Nobel Brothers and Rothschilds by 1883.

Thursday 27th September 2018 (Evening)

The coaches drove us on busy streets from Baku railway station to a dropping-off point near the Old City. Although there were large, ambitious modern 'skyscrapers', the more conservative architecture lining the streets was similar to European and American cities developed in the 19th and early 20th centuries featuring Baroque, Gothic and Beaux-Arts styles, together with later Soviet styles. The picture below illustrates this architectural mix, with a medieval Persion palace (foreground), Soviet-style (rear left - although Baku TV Tower, started 1979, was not completed until 1996 after the collapse of the Soviet Union) and ultra-modern (rear right two of the three 'Flame Towers' described on Wikipedia here).


A mix of architectural styles in Baku, Azerbaijan: Persian, Soviet and ultra-modern.

The Baku Executive Authority Building, completed in 1904, was built as a Municipal Duma or town hall in the Baroque building style and now serves the Mayoralty of Baku. There's a Wikipedia article here.


Baku Executive Authority Building

We came across various oddities, like a strange larger than life size bust of the Baku poet Aliaga Vahid (1894-1965) and the Baku Museum of Miniature Books (see Wikipedia article here).


Baku Museum of Miniature Books, Baku, Azerbaijan

The Old City, Icherisheher, was built when Azerbaijan formed part of the Persian Empire, incorporating 12th century (or perhaps earlier) features and defensive walls, with later additions. There's a Wikipedia article here. Our walk took us past the surviving parts of the encircling Old City walls and the Maiden Tower. The Old City has been changed by modern reconstruction but a model on display in the Palace of the Shirvanshahs gave an impression of the 15th century city. The Old City, including the Palace of the Shirvanshahs, is now a World Heritage Site



Model of 15th century Baku, Azerbaijan


Walls of the Old City, Baku, Azerbaijan


Maiden Tower, Old City, Baku, Azerbaijan

The highlight of our walking tour, for me, was a visit to the 15th century Palace of the Shirvanshahs. Considerable reconstruction has been carried out and, although its detailed history is still a matter of some debate, I found it a fascinating and tranquil complex of elegant buildings.


Palace of the Shirvanshahs, Baku, Azerbaijan


Palace of the Shirvanshahs, Baku, Azerbaijan

Below I list Wikipedia and other articles which give more background on the Palace of the Shirvanshahs:-

Palace of the Shirvanshahs (Wikipedia)
PALACE OF THE SHIRVANSHAHS (Alluring World)
Shirvanshah Palace, Baku (Advantur)
Palace of the Shirvanshahs (Azerbaijan International)

We left the Palace and continued our walking tour, past preserved bathhouses and a medieval caravanserai but, by this time, my tiredness was overcoming my concentration and I felt quite relieved when I saw that we were finally headed towards the Four Seasons Hotel.


Preserved bathhouses in Baku, Azerbaijan

I was a little worried that, with a fair number of guests arriving simultaneously, check-in might take a while but, in fact, I was issued with a room key within a few minutes and gratefully headed for the lifts. My room was well-appointed and huge.


Four Seasons Hotel, Baku, Azerbaijan

Related posts on this website

This is one of a series of posts describing my 'Golden Eagle' Caspian Odyssey trip, starting with Travelling East.

Clicking on the 'Next report' link (where shown) displays the post describing the next events. In this way, you may read about the trip in sequence.
Next report.

Alternately, clicking on the 'All my Caspian Odyssey reports' link displays all the posts on this trip in reverse date-of-posting order.
All my Caspian Odyssey reports.

My pictures

These albums include more pictures of the events described above:-

Baku walking tour, Azerbaijan.
Four Seasons Hotel, Baku, Azerbaijan.
Around Baku, Azerbaijan.

All my pictures taken in Azerbaijan (except 'technical' railway pictures) are in the collection Azerbaijan.