Get Recommendations For Your Trip
Popular Destinations
Azerbaijan Tourism
Baku
The city is situated in the south-western part of the Absheron peninsula. Its main houses and administrative buildings are located in an amphitheatre manner along the picturesque bay of the Caspian Sea. The climate is dry, subtropical of the Mediterranean type. Scientists date the first settlements back to the 2nd millennium B.C. The first mentioning of Baku as a city was found in Arab manuscripts of the 8th century A.D.
Up to the 19th century Baku existed within the Fortress walls (22 hectares). Icheri Sheher, which is how the Baku Fortress is currently called, is reserved in its lay-out and is really a museum in the open air, a treasury of Medieval architecture, containing more than 200 monuments with the Ensemble of Shirvanshahs' Palace (XY c.), the unique Maiden Tower (XII c.), Mohammed Ibn Abubekir Mosque (1078), other mosques, Caravanserais and houses of XIY-XIX c.c. Since the end of the XIX c., Baku has * been turned into a big industrial center with oil production and oil refining. A new image of Baku has been formed. Around the old Fortress you may see many-storied buildings, fashionable mansions in different architectural styles: Moresque, Gothic, Baroque, Classic, Modern and others. Significant changes of the architectural appearance have taken place during the succeding years. Today Baku is political, economic, scientific and cultural center of Azerbaijan. Unique cultural treasures are stored and exhibited in Baku museums. Azerbaijan Academy of Science unites various scientific research institutes, dealing with the wide range of problems of different sciences. In the suburbs of Baku, in old settlements, there are many monuments of medieval architecture: watch towers, mosques, baths, and civil constructions. The places, which attract particularly numerous numbers of tourists, are the dweellings of ancient people with a rich collection of rock paintings, dated back to the Paleolithic-neolith (Gobustan historic and art reserve) and the Ateshgah Temple of Fire Worshippers (Surakhani settlement).The Absheron peninsula has sandy beaches, summer cottage settlements and rest houses for adults and children.
CITY FORTRESS
Walking along narrow curved streets of the oldest part of Baku called "Icheri Sheher" - a medieval city surrounded by a high and impressive wall (XII c.) - you will see unique architectural and historical monuments: Maiden Tower (due to its inimitable shape and beautiful legends it is considered as the symbol of Baku); the Palace of Shirvanshahs (XV c.) with the Divankhane building, Eastern Gates, Palace mosque, tomb of the Shirvanshakhs; Caravanserai.
CITY HIGHLIGHTS
The architecture of Baku is a symphony of European and Oriental traditions and styles. Here you will easily come across Italian frescos in the house of an Azerbaijan owner and a Mauritanian Palace, which belonged to an English businessman.
Up to the 19th century Baku existed within the Fortress walls (22 hectares). Icheri Sheher, which is how the Baku Fortress is currently called, is reserved in its lay-out and is really a museum in the open air, a treasury of Medieval architecture, containing more than 200 monuments with the Ensemble of Shirvanshahs' Palace (XY c.), the unique Maiden Tower (XII c.), Mohammed Ibn Abubekir Mosque (1078), other mosques, Caravanserais and houses of XIY-XIX c.c. Since the end of the XIX c., Baku has * been turned into a big industrial center with oil production and oil refining. A new image of Baku has been formed. Around the old Fortress you may see many-storied buildings, fashionable mansions in different architectural styles: Moresque, Gothic, Baroque, Classic, Modern and others. Significant changes of the architectural appearance have taken place during the succeding years. Today Baku is political, economic, scientific and cultural center of Azerbaijan. Unique cultural treasures are stored and exhibited in Baku museums. Azerbaijan Academy of Science unites various scientific research institutes, dealing with the wide range of problems of different sciences. In the suburbs of Baku, in old settlements, there are many monuments of medieval architecture: watch towers, mosques, baths, and civil constructions. The places, which attract particularly numerous numbers of tourists, are the dweellings of ancient people with a rich collection of rock paintings, dated back to the Paleolithic-neolith (Gobustan historic and art reserve) and the Ateshgah Temple of Fire Worshippers (Surakhani settlement).The Absheron peninsula has sandy beaches, summer cottage settlements and rest houses for adults and children.
CITY FORTRESS
Walking along narrow curved streets of the oldest part of Baku called "Icheri Sheher" - a medieval city surrounded by a high and impressive wall (XII c.) - you will see unique architectural and historical monuments: Maiden Tower (due to its inimitable shape and beautiful legends it is considered as the symbol of Baku); the Palace of Shirvanshahs (XV c.) with the Divankhane building, Eastern Gates, Palace mosque, tomb of the Shirvanshakhs; Caravanserai.
CITY HIGHLIGHTS
The architecture of Baku is a symphony of European and Oriental traditions and styles. Here you will easily come across Italian frescos in the house of an Azerbaijan owner and a Mauritanian Palace, which belonged to an English businessman.
