The center of Baku is the Old Town, which is also a fortress. The walled city of Baku (called “Icheri sheher” meaning “Inner town”) became the first place in Azerbaijan classified as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. Most of the walls and towers, strengthened after the Russian conquest in 1806, survive. This section is picturesque, with its maze of narrow alleys and ancient buildings.
Wander the cobbled streets past the Palace of Shirvashahs, two caravanserais (ancient inns), the 11th-century Maiden Tower (nice harbor view), the baths, and the Djuma Mosque.
The carpets were moved to the former Lenin Museum. The Old Town also has dozens of small mosques, often without any particular sign to distinguish them from the next building.
Boomtown, south of the old city, emerged after massive petroleum exploitation began a century ago. It has interesting beaux-arts architecture. Fine arts, history, and literature museums are there, all housed in the mansions of pre-Revolutionary millionaires.
Baku and the Nobel brothers
Few people know about the deep connection that the Nobel brothers – Alfred, Ludvig, and Robert – once had with Baku. When the Nobel Prizes started in 1901, roughly 12% of the prize money came from Alfred’s shares in the Nobel Brothers’ Petroleum Company in the city.
Alfred Nobel was the largest single shareholder in the Baku oil fields and factories owned by his brothers, Robert and Ludwig. When Alfred died in 1896, much of his legacy went to fund the Nobel Prize.
Located in the walled town, the Maiden’s Tower is Azerbaijan’s best-known landmark and the symbol of Baku. Maiden’s Tower is one of the most popular and striking of the city’s landmarks. Located in the Old City, at the western end of the Boulevard, the tower has become the unofficial symbol of Baku.
According to legend, a Shah built the tower in the 11th or 12th century for his daughter to force her to marry a rich nobleman. The young princess, who loved a poor young man, jumped from the tower on her wedding day to escape her fate.
After her death, the tower obtained the name of the Maiden’s Tower. According to another legend, the tower served as a Zoroastrian temple where people from all over the Middle East and as far afield as India came to worship. Giz Galasi is within the Old City, part of the city built in the Medieval period. You can climb its eight floors and enjoy a magnificent view of the old town and Bakubay.
The cylinder-shaped tower is about 30 meters tall with a diameter of 16.5 meters and walls 5 meters thick. Archaeologists estimate that building the tower started in the 7th or 8th century and was enlarged in the 11th or 12th century by a Massud ibn Daud, as a Kufic inscription reveals. Built on a coastal rock, that made tunneling under it impossible, the tower has a bizarre projection at the base giving it the look of a retort.
When you’re in Baku, be sure to visit the legendary Baku Boulevard. Its history goes back 100 years. Even if you’ve walked down this promenade before, (also known as the Seaside National Park), it will keep surprising you with its ever-changing face.
The exquisite boulevard, which runs parallel to Baku’s seafront, recently extended, and the little Venice along one part received a fresh up. It now has wider canals, clear and sparkly water, and bulky gondolas ready to take on passengers.
The most striking example of medieval palace structures in Azerbaijan is the Shirvanshahs’ Palace complex. It’s in the Inner City. In the 15th century, the governors of Shirvan moved the state’s capital from Shemaha to Baku. They built this palace and made it their home. The domes and arches, mosaics, and stonework are in beautiful shape.
This grand complex has the main building of the palace, Divankhana, the burial vaults, the Shah’s mosque with a minaret, Seyid Yahya Bakuvi’s mausoleum, a portal in the east, a reservoir, and the remnants of the bath-house.
Building of the Palace, the main building of the complex which is the earliest of all the palace constructions took almost 10 years. Shirvanshah Shaikh Ibrahim I started its construction in 1411. The two-story building of the palace numbers about 50 different dimensions. Outlines of the constructions connected with 3 narrow winding staircases.
The big lancet portal leads from the courtyard to the 2nd floor, into a high lodging covered with a cupola. A small vestibule, located behind it, connects it with the rest of the lodgings in the palace.
Divankhana is a small fine pavilion. It’s inside a small yard surrounded by a three-sided gallery arcade. The Divankhana pavilion consists of an 8-sided hall covered with a stone cupola both inside and outside. An ornament and inscriptions decorate the well-proportioned high portal of the main entrance. The ornament pictures the interlacing fig and vine leaves. Its portal is also decorated with two medallions inside of which there are inscriptions in the Arabic language in graphic print of Cufa. Divankhanas’ architectural composition and planning are original and unique.
Shirvanshahs burial-vault
Shirvanshah’s burial vault is rectangular and crowned with a 6-sided cupola. The inscription on the entrance doorway indicates the purpose of the building, “Khalil-Ullah I, the greatest Sultan, Great Shirvanshah, the namesake of the divine prophet, the defender of the religion ordered to build this light burial-vault for his mother and son in 839“. On two drop-shaped medallions in the flannel parts of the portal are inscriptions with the architect’s name.
The Palace Mosque is in the lower court of the complex. There are 2 chapels for prayers in the mosque. A large hall for men, a smaller hall for women, and a couple of small subsidiary rooms.
Seyid Yahya Bakuvi’s Mausoleum
This mausoleum is in the southern part of the complex. Seyid Yahya Bakuvi was a royal scholar in the court of Shirvanshah Khalilullah. The Mausoleum is of an octahedral shape and covered with an octahedral marquee. It consists of ground and underground parts. The upper part of the Mausoleum served to perform the cult rites, the lower one housed the sepulchral vault. There are three small lancet windows with a stone bar on the southern, eastern, and western verges of the Mausoleum.
The Shirvanshahs’ Palace complex also includes the portal of Eastern Gates, the so-called “Murad’s Gate”. It appeared within citadel walls later than the other constructions of the complex during the seizure of Baku by the Turks in the 14th century.
The Palace Bathhouse is on the lowest terrace of the complex. Archaeological excavations exposed a big bathhouse consisting of 26 rooms. The bathhouse was semi-underground to keep the heat in winter and cool in summer. Shirvanshahs’ Palace complex has been a museum-reserve since 1964 and is under state protection.
A certain standard of luxury and comfort is what one expects from a Four Seasons hotel. And this one located between the old-town walls and the waterside promenade fulfills all expectations. Entering the lobby, guests see marble splendor gleaming beneath crystal chandeliers, and from their generously proportioned rooms, they enjoy a magnificent view of the city.
All rooms offer every comfort and convenience and feature exquisite details, such as a golden Queen Anne washbasin, and also a television set in the bathroom. In other words, the hotel reflects the typical Baku mix of the historical and the modern.