Baku, preserving traditions, confidently looks to the future and, changing its appearance with each new era, carefully preserves the legacy of past centuries. Modern architecture is harmoniously combined with medieval fortresses and towers, ancient mosques with ultra-modern concert halls, and oriental flavor with the latest Western trends. Go to the capital of the Land of Fire, and we will tell you what to see in Baku in 1 day on your own to fall in love with it forever and be sure to return.

How to get from the airport to the center

From the airport named after G. Ayliev to the center can be reached in different ways. Shuttle H1 goes directly to the center. A ticket for it can be bought at the exit of the terminal building in the machine. The ticket price is 90 cents and the journey takes approximately 40 minutes.

Another way is to use the city bus route 116. It departs from the airport and goes straight to the center every 30 minutes. Without traffic jams, the journey time is 1 hour. The ticket costs 20 cents, the driver sells them.

If you do not want to use public transport, you can take a taxi. It is better to book it in advance using any of the online taxi ordering services. The trip will cost approximately $25 or more depending on the class of car and will take 35 minutes.

🏨 🚕 Individual transfer from the airport to the hotel and more

Workshop of Ali Shamsi

In the Old Town, on Kichik Kala (Small Fortress) street, an unusual house will surely attract your attention. Its facade is hung with many amulets, signs and symbols, decorated with installations depicting a huge lion with extraordinary eyes, aliens, native oilmen. A tree grows opposite, the trunk of which is painted with three female faces. Tourists always gather around it to take pictures. In front of the house, two artistic brushes “grow” right out of the ground.

This is the workshop of the famous Baku artist Ali Shamsi. He himself can also be found near the house. The artist often works in his studio and gladly invites everyone to visit his house. The inside of the house is no less interesting than the outside. The workshop has two rooms. The first one houses art objects collected by the master, brought by him from other countries or collected here in his homeland, including during excavations in the Old City.

And in the second – the work of the artist himself. Most of them are dedicated to the nature of Azerbaijan, their native city and, of course, women. He paints flowers, the sea, mountains, portraits of beautiful women – everything that he loves and never ceases to admire. His paintings, bright, joyful, very kind, will surely find a response in your heart. The workshop is located at: Icheri Sheher, st. Kichik Kala, 84.

Miniature Book Museum

In the Old Town, not far from the Maiden's Tower, on April 23, 2002, a unique museum was opened, which has no analogues anywhere in the world – this is the Miniature Book Museum. Here are the smallest books in the world. These are rare editions of Russian classics, Azerbaijani poets and writers (including the great oriental poets Nizami and Fizuli), books published during the Soviet years in various republics of the Soviet Union and in Europe. There is even a miniature edition of “Criminal Jokes” by Y. Nikulin.

The exposition presents not only fiction, but also philosophical and spiritual books – for example, a miniature Bible and the Koran. And in contrast to them – the collected works of V. Lenin. Zarifa Salakhova, the sister of the artist Taira Salakhova, began collecting her collection many years ago, in the Soviet years. And this one began with a collection of fables by I. A. Krylov, published back in 1835.

The most valuable exhibit of the museum is one of the smallest books in the world. Its dimensions are 2 x 2 mm, but at the same time, the book contains not only text, but also illustrations. True, to see them, as well as to read its contents, is possible only with the help of a magnifying glass. The museum is open every day except Monday and Thursday from 11 am to 5 pm. Free admission.

Governor's Garden

The Governor's Garden is the oldest in the city. It was founded in 1830. According to the decree of the commandant of the Baku Fortress Roman von der Hoven, all ship owners and their captains had to bring several bags of black earth from the south so that even crops that do not like a dry climate could be grown. Here they planted acacia, mulberry, coniferous trees, planted flower beds, some exotic plants.

The result was a unique garden in which even rare, including subtropical, plants grew. It began at the walls of Icheri Sheher, and when the outer wall of the fortress was removed in 1865, the garden expanded significantly. For a long time it was the only garden in the city. For ordinary people, entry here was allowed only once a week.

By the end of the 19th century, gazebos and terraces for relaxation appeared in the park. The garden was renamed many times, it was called Mikhailovsky, Revolution, them. Aliaga Vahida, but the old name – Governor's – took root best of all. Now the building of the Philharmonic named after A.I. M. Magomayev, so it is often called the garden of the Philharmonic. It stretches along the fortress wall from Azneft Avenue to the Icheri Sheher metro station.

Kichik-Gala Street, 8 – a scene from the movie “The Diamond Hand”

The old city is familiar to everyone in our country, even to a person who has never been to the Azerbaijani capital. Legendary Soviet films were filmed here: Aibolit-66, Tehran-43, Don't be afraid, I'm with you. But, of course, the most recognizable views of Icheri Sheher are in frames from the films Amphibian Man and The Diamond Arm. Almost all of the foreign countries in the film “The Diamond Arm” were filmed in the Old Town. Soviet Baku becomes Istanbul for the duration of filming.

Walking along the narrow streets of Icheri Sheher, you will definitely recognize the places where the sultry beauty tries to seduce Semyon Semenych (“Tsigel, tsigel ai-lu-lu!”), You will see the walls of the Palace of the Shirvanshahs, against which the excursion to Soviet tourists is conducted. And of course, no one will be able to pass by the famous place next to the Chikanuk pharmacy, in which the main character was smuggled with plaster.

Tourists here are photographed in the same position and with the famous phrase “Chyort pobieri!”. The exact address of this place is Kichik Kala, 8 (Malaya Krepostnaya, 8). Of course, now there is not a pharmacy here, but an ordinary courtyard of a residential building with its measured life. To find this place, you can navigate by the nearby cafe “Tander” at the intersection with Veli Mammadov Street.

Shamakhi Gate

Icheri Sheher (Old City) is not just a piece of preserved ancient city. This is a unique architectural reserve protected by UNESCO. The fortress with 25 towers and 5 gates rises above the sea and is surrounded on all sides by strong stone walls up to 8 m high, and their thickness reaches 3 m. Today you can get into the Old City through the Shamakhi Gate. For a long time they were practically the only gates of the fortress. In another way, they were also called the gates of Shah Abbas.

Once there were two tiers of defensive walls in the fortress. In the 19th century, when the city grew significantly and went far beyond Icheri Sheher, the governor proposed to remove the inner walls. In 1886, a decision on this was made, the wall was demolished, and the gates of the inner walls, called the Zulfiqar Gates (after the Shah who erected the inner walls), were moved to Shamakhi.

As a result, the gate now has two arches and is often referred to as the Twin Gate. Through the Shamakhi Gate, you can enter the Old City by car. But at the entrance you will have to pay 2 manats, and for each next hour you will have to pay extra 1 manat.

Maiden's Tower

In the southeast of Icheri Sheher, the famous Maiden's Tower (Gyz Galasy) rises, which has long become a symbol of the city. The thickness of its walls at the base is 5 m, and at the top – 4 m. The height of the tower is 28 m. It is divided into 8 tiers, a spiral staircase leads to the very top. In the tower itself, a well was built in the rock, 21 m deep. For what this tower was erected, historians still argue. According to many, it did not have a defensive function, but rather a cult one, associated with pagan times and, in particular, with the worship of the Sun. The time of its construction is also not yet known.

According to archaeologists who have studied mortar and masonry, it could have been built in the 1st century BC. or in the ninth century. For a long time the tower served as a lighthouse. Until the 19th century, a flag fluttered on its top, which served as a guide for sailors, and from the middle of the 19th century, the lighthouse began to shine. There are many legends associated with the tower. The heroine of each of them is necessarily a girl who, because of unhappy love, throws herself from a tower into the sea and breaks on stones.

One of the stones in the sea at the foot of the tower is still called the stone of the virgin. This story inspired many poets and artists to create their own works related to the legends of the Maiden's Tower. Her image has become a symbol of the city. Now there is a museum in the tower, and at the very top there is an observation deck from where you can look at the city. The museum is open every day except Monday from 10:00 to 18:00. The ticket costs 2 manats.

Palace of the Shirvanshahs

The palace ensemble of the Shirvanshahs is the former residence of the Shahs of Shirvan, a unique architectural and historical monument that was built over several centuries – from the 13th to the 16th centuries. It is located on a hilltop in the center of the Icheri Sheher (Old City) fortress. In addition to the palace of the rulers, the complex includes a tomb, a bathhouse, a mosque of the 15th century, the mausoleum of the Baku scientist Seyid Yahya Bakuvi and the courtyard of Divan Khane. Despite the fact that the whole complex was not built at once, it is a complete, harmonious ensemble, sustained in uniform architectural forms and combinations of decorative elements.

The palace has preserved spiral staircases and a front hall, which now displays an exposition consisting of finds from archaeological excavations – dishes, jewelry, household items, musical instruments, weapons and famous Shemakha carpets. Household items can also be seen in the rest of the remaining 52 chambers of the palace. In the courtyard – Divan Khan – there is an octagonal rotunda with columns. Her appointment is still unknown.

It is assumed that it could be a tomb or a building in which the State Council met. The mausoleum of Seyid Yahya Bakuvi, a scientist who worked here during the reign of Shirvanshah Khalil-ulla I, was once connected by an arch to the old mosque of Key-Kubad, which burned down in 1918 year. The remains of tombstones and 14 crypts of the family members of the Shirvanshah Khalil-ulla have been preserved in the tomb. The complex is located in Icher Sheher, in Palace Lane, it is open daily, from 10:00 to 18:00. An adult ticket costs 2 manats, for students – 60 qepiks (kopecks), for schoolchildren – 20 qepiks.

Monument to the poet Aliaga Vahid

Aliaga Vahid (Aliaga Mammadkuli-ogly Iskanderov) is an Azerbaijani poet, satirist, friend of Sergei Yesenin. Not only his satirical poems, but also lyrical gazelles were very popular among the people. A very extraordinary monument to the poet stands in the Azerbaijani capital in Icheri Shaher (Old City) on Kichik Kala (Small Fortress) street. Its authors are sculptors Rahib Hasanov and Natik Aliyev.

The monument is a huge head of the poet, which grows right out of the ground – his neck, torso and hair represent the trunk and branches of trees and at the same time the plexus of human bodies. The monument is very interesting to consider – all the cycles of our life are represented here: birth, love, separation, wedding, funeral. According to the sculptors, all our ideas live in our heads, they decided to “pull” them out.

The monument was opened on October 27, 1990. It was built almost entirely at the expense of ordinary people, admirers of Aliaga Vahid's talent. The idea to perpetuate the image of the poet belongs to the architect, journalist and writer Arif Mansurov. He also sponsored the erection of the monument.

Market Square

One of the oldest places in the city, Market Square, has always been marked on old maps, but was discovered as a result of excavations in Icher Sheher only in 1964. Once upon a time there was a large oriental bazaar. Gradually, the square began to bear not only trading functions, but also became the center of political and social life. Here the most important decrees of the rulers were read, court sessions were held and their decisions were announced.

However, during one of the enemy attacks, the square was destroyed. After that, it was no longer used for its intended purpose and eventually used as a cemetery. Archaeologists have found 52 graves here. On the top of the hill, under which the market square was buried, the townspeople gradually began to build houses. After archaeologists discovered and studied it, the area was cleared and landscaped. Archaeologists and restorers completely freed it, restored the arcade, which rests on stone columns with a capital.

Mohammed Mosque

In Icheri Sheher, there is another iconic building – the Mohammed Mosque, or Synyk-kala, which translates as a broken fortress or tower. The mosque was built in the XI century. The date of construction of the mosque is even preserved here. An inscription on one of the walls says that the mosque was built by ustad-rais Mohammed, the son of Abu Bekr, in 471 (approximately in 1079). It was built on the site of an even more ancient structure.

During the assault on the city by the Russian fleet in 1723, the fortress of Icheri Sheher was shelled. One of the shells damaged the tower of the minaret. At the same moment, a strong wind arose and carried the ships back. The defenders of the city regarded this as a sign from God. For a very long time the tower was not restored, it became a symbol of resistance and then it got its second name. The minaret adjoins the main building of the mosque. Its upper part was restored only in the 19th century.

Bath Gadzhi Gaib

As in any eastern city, there are many baths here. In the East, a hammam is not just a place intended for hygiene procedures; a visit to the bath was accompanied by a special ritual. And they often gathered here for negotiations and conclusion of deals. Bath Haji Gaiba was built in the XV century in a very convenient place. Trade routes crossed here, and merchants from different countries gathered for bathing and business negotiations. Archaeologists discovered the hammam only in the 60s of the last century.

Today, the Haji Gaib bath is, of course, no longer used for its intended purpose. But tourists can see what the building of a traditional hammam was like in the Middle Ages. It consists of three rooms. The dressing room has a rectangular shape, and then follows a large central hall in the form of an octagon. There were two pools with hot and cold water.

Under the stone tiled floor, steam passed through the channels, which heated the room. Ceramic pipes served the same purpose. In the third room, in the locker room, they had a tea party after washing, negotiations were held here, cheerful conversations were made and deals were made. Bath Haji Gaib is easy to find, it is located next to the Maiden Tower, on Boyuk Kala Street, 5.

Little Venice Park

Seaside Boulevard is one of the most favorite places in the city not only among tourists, but also among Baku residents. Here, back in 1960, a park was arranged, which is a network of islands and canals connecting them. It was called Baku Venice, or Little Venice. In the post-Soviet years, over time, this park fell into disrepair. It was restored and modernized only in 2011.

Now cafes and restaurants have opened along the banks of the canals. Small green areas, flower beds, fountains and openwork bridges appeared here. Gondolas carry tourists along the canals. For them, special piers were equipped. The length of all the channels of Little Venice is 1350 m and the depth is 1.3 m.

Azerbaijan Carpet Museum

In 1967, the national carpet museum was opened in the building of the Juma mosque in Icheri Sheher. In 1992, the mosque was returned to believers, and for some time the museum's exposition moved to the Museum Center. From 2008 to 2014, the construction of a new museum building was underway. In August 2014, its grand opening took place. The building is shaped like a huge carpet rolled into a roll.

The museum has a large collection of not only carpets, but also ceramics, metal, jewelry, national clothes and embroidery. The most valuable exhibits are a fragment of a Tabriz carpet and an 18th-century carpet “Hila Afshan”. The museum presents carpets from all regions of the country, you can see the most diverse embodiment of traditional national ornaments.

The museum has its own training center where you can learn about the main schools of carpet weaving, their features, the history of the emergence and development of this type of arts and crafts in Azerbaijan. The museum is located on M. Useynov Avenue, 28. It works every day except Monday from 9 am to 9 pm, but the entrance for visitors starts and ends an hour earlier. An adult ticket costs 7 manats, and for schoolchildren and students – 3 manats.

Funicular

In any city built on hills, a funicular is a must. The first ski lift appeared in Baku in 1960. For the Eurovision Song Contest in 2012, it was not just repaired, but completely modernized: the old booths were replaced with new, modern ones that work completely silently. Now from the station “Bahram Gur” to the Flame Towers can be reached in just 4 minutes. And this path only 1 minute passes through the tunnel, and the rest of the time – along the hills of the Green Theater, covered with coniferous trees.

The trailer offers a view of the Caspian Sea, towers and green slopes. In the evenings, you can see fantastic panoramas of the city flooded with lights, luminous oil rigs and lights in the sea. There are also stairs along the paths – in order to return to the embankment, it is not necessary to use the funicular again, you can also go down on foot.

The funicular is located near the Icheri Sheher metro station. It is open every day except Monday from 10 am to 10 pm. The fare is 1 manat one way. Payment is made in cash only. Carriages leave every 10 minutes.

flame towers

Since Zoroastrian times, Azerbaijan has been called the Land of Fire and the place of storage of the sacred fire. And the matter is not only in the bowels of this land rich in oil and gas. This fire burns in the heart of every inhabitant of this hospitable country. This is what the creators of the modern architectural ensemble Flame Towers tried to embody in their work – Flame (Burning) towers.

These are three tall buildings shaped like flames. The towers are considered the tallest buildings in Azerbaijan and are visible from all parts of the capital. When the lights in the towers light up in the evenings, the backlight turns on, and the movement of fire is shown on the monitors, from afar it seems that a fire is really blazing in the distance. They built the towers for 5 years.

All buildings have different heights. The tallest tower is 190 m, the others are 140 and 160 m. The towers house offices and residential premises, as well as the Fairmont Baku at the Flame Towers hotel. The most convenient way to get to the towers is from the Icheri Sheher metro station on the city funicular. It is best to view them from the waterfront.

Ferris wheel

Like any big city, it has its own Ferris wheel. By analogy with London, it is called Baku Eye. Cabins rise to a height of 60 m. From here, breathtaking views of the city open up. From above, you can see the new residential area “Yeni Hayat”, the half-sunken foundation of the ancient Sabail fortress, the carpet museum, Nargen Island, extraordinary panoramas of the city, the old port, and new hotels. Each cabin is designed for 8 people.

The wheel makes a complete revolution in different times – from 10 to 30 minutes, because the landing takes place in 5 booths at the same time. Therefore, sometimes the wheel freezes and freezes during movement – do not be afraid, after a while it will continue to move. The cabins are completely closed, air conditioners work in them, a video showing the construction of the wheel is shown on the monitor, information appears about the height at which it is located and the temperature “overboard”.

The wheel is located at the end of Primorsky Boulevard, on Neftchilar Avenue, next to the National Flag Square. Open every day from 10:00 to 23:00. A ticket costs 5 manats, for children under 6 years old – free of charge, from 6 to 12 years old – 3 manats.

Baku “Crystal Hall”

When Azerbaijan's duo Ell & Nikki won the Eurovision Song Contest in 2011, the country began preparing to host the festival. For this, a new concert hall was built in less than a year. For its unique form, this concert venue was called “Crystal Hall”, or “Crystal Hall”. The outer building of the hall consists of light metal structures.

They have a huge number of LED bulbs built into them. With the onset of dusk, the hall begins to glow with multi-colored lights. From the roof of the arena, thanks to special spotlights, thin string-beams stretch to the sky, which are clearly visible from all over the city. The hall can accommodate up to 27 thousand spectators. His equipment allows you to realize any visual ideas.

After Eurovision, the hall remained functioning. World stars often perform here (Rihanna, Shakira, D. Lopez, etc.), events are held as part of major sports competitions, such as the 1st European Games, the Chess Olympiad. The hall is located on the National Flag Square, next to the Icheri Sheher metro station.