Immediately after breakfast we were met by our guide Elmar and were driven by Ilqar in our mini-bus to the lookout point referred to as Memory Alley.
Our bus stopped at a point directly opposite the Azerbaijan Parliament and across the road from the Flame Towers. These three sinuous glass towers built in 2012 are phenomenal from the point of view of their ‘flame’ shape and their heights being 28 to 33 storeys high. They and other similar 21st century buildings around Baku form contemporary Baku’s architectural signature.
Azerbaijan Parliament
On heading towards Memory Alley Elmar gave us a potted summary of the history of Azerbaijan, particularly Baku’s in the times onwards from Tsar Peter the Great who captured the region in 1723. The discovery of oil and gas led to the commercial extraction of crude oil in 1872 and by 1905 Azerbaijan was producing 50% of the world’s petroleum. This oil wealth resulted in vast expenditure with the construction of lavish mansions, numerous city buildings and extensive infrastructure. This led to the population becoming polarised with the extremely wealthy ‘oil barons’ and their associates at one end and the abject poverty of oil workers and labourers at the other. This division meant that the communist Bolsheviks took control with the additional intention of defending the oil fields from the Turks.
In this post Russian revolutionary period, Baku sustained a further series of brutal massacres involving Armenian and Turkish troops.
Stalin’s anti-religion drive of the 1930s saw the Red Army destroy many majestic mosques as well as Baku city’s main and superb cathedral.
The dissolution of the USSR in 1990s led to further conflict with Azerbaijan’s independence being opposed by the Soviets who invaded Baku in 1990 and killed hundreds of protesting Baku citizens.
At Memory Alley (Shehilder Khiyabany) there is a cemetery stretching 200m from the Flame Tower buildings to a memorial shrine commemorating the victims of the 1990 Russian attack. The avenue is referred to as Martyrs’ Lane with a hundred and twenty aligned graves with the headstones depicting the faces of victims of this brutal attack. A large eternal flame burns dramatically at the centre base of the shrine.
Turkish Graves, Memory Alley - Shehidler Khiyabany
Turkish Graves, Memory Alley - Shehidler Khiyabany
Memory Alley - Shehidler Khiyabany
Memory Alley - Shehidler Khiyabany
Jak and Sinclair at Shrine of Remembrance, Memory Alley - Shehidler Khiyabany
Following this confronting visit to the war cemetery we visited the nearby lookout and took photos of the city below. The weather was grey with threatening clouds and very windy conditions so it was decided to head downwards to rejoin our bus and head to the new Heydar Aliyev Centre.
Heydar Aliyev Centre
On arrival at the Centre we were informed that unexpectedly it was closed for the morning due to a special meeting with visiting dignitaries. Plan B came into focus so we headed for the Carpet Museum.
Carpet Museum
The carpet museum is housed in a 2014 building designed by Austrian architect Franz Janz. The museum is shaped like a stylised roll of carpet and exhibits an extensive historic record of carpets and associated weaving materials. The range of carpets includes 17th century flatweaves through to modernist picture rugs.
19th Century Baku carpet
Carpet display
Our next tourist venture was to the Palace of the Shirvanshahs which is inside the old city wall. This splendid collection of high stone walls and sandstone domes was the seat of the Azerbaijani ruling dynasty during the Middle Ages especially the 15th century.
Artefacts inside Palace of the Shirvanshahs
Painting inside Palace of the Shirvanshahs
The buildings have been carefully restored since 2003 with many interesting artefacts added to complement the historical setting. Within the palace confines we visited the Shah’s mosque and bath houses which have been excavated from beneath ancient rubble in recent times.
Shah’s mosque Palace of the Shirvanshahs
Bath houses, Palace of the Shirvanshahs
Our return pathway to home was via numerous alleyways with ancient residential buildings serviced by a maze of meandering pathways.
Along the way we passed the Siniq Qatari Mosque which is more commonly referred to as Baku’s Mohammed mosque. This mosque dates from the year 1079 and is considered the oldest still remaining in Baku. It’s name translates to ‘Broken Tower’ mosque due to one of its minarets being seriously damaged by a 1723 Russian naval bombardment firing canon from the Caspian Sea some kilometres away!
Siniq Qatari Mosque
The final event for this busy day was to visit the Qiz Qalasi (Maiden’s Tower) adjacent to our Sultan’s Inn hotel. This tapering 29m sandstone tower is regarded as Baku’s foremost historical icon. It dates from around the 12th century and its fortress value was assured by the 5m thick walls at the base of the tower and an unusual projecting spine-buttress.
Door, Qiz Qalasi (Maiden’s Tower)
We climbed to the top of the tower via narrow stone spiral staircase with such a low ceiling that a few head bumps were inevitable. The view from the top was panoramic despite the gloomy surrounding weather pattern.
Jak at the top of Qiz Qalasi (Maiden’s Tower)
We returned to our hotel at around 16:30 and had our evening meal at our hotel’s third floor restaurant.
Dinner at Sultan Hotel
Our hotel is inside the ringed city wall which encloses the Icari Seher or ‘Old City’ which is UNESCO listed and contains medieval caravanserais, tiny mosques, galleries, hotel accommodation and the inevitable bevy of souvenir shops and restaurants.
Tomorrow there are more exciting sites on the venue including mud volcanoes.