Showing 1-21 of 21 results
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Ali Shamsir's Gallery
If the State Art Museum is closed, you can still see great modern Azeri art at several commercial minigalleries with free admission, of which the most imaginative include Ali Shamsir's Gallery .
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Archangel Michael Russian Church
Hidden through the Vidadi küç archway off Hüsi Haciyev küç, the modest Archangel Michael Russian Church is the centre of Baku's Orthodox community. It's not geared towards tourists, but you're welcome to admire the icons and colourful ceiling murals.
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Armenian Church
The sturdy Armenian Church remains disused for lack of Armenians, a reminder of the brutal cultural divide still caused by the war in Karabakh.
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Carpet Museum
Formerly a Lenin Museum, this solidly neoclassical building now houses an interesting Carpet Museum, which charts the history of Azeri carpet making and includes over 1000 rare and beautiful rugs from Azerbaijan, as well as Iran and Dagestan. A guided tour helps to put the designs in context and to explain the significance of their symbols. In the same building are the far less compelling Theatre Museum and Museum of Independence.
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Center of Contemporary Art
If the State Art Museum is closed, you can still see great modern Azeri art at several commercial minigalleries with free admission, of which the most imaginative include Center of Contemporary Art.
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Cumə Mosque
Several blunt medieval minarets rise above the Old City but the intricate stone façade of the Cumə Mosque is only a century old.
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Faxri Xiyəbani Cemetery
The Faxri Xiyəbani Cemetery, where Heydar Әliyev's grave is the first place that any dignitary is likely to be taken on an official visit to Baku.
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Funicular
Get to Şahidlər Xiyabani by Funicular from the sea front, or marshrutka 39T or 177 from behind Bakı Soveti metro.
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Historical Museum
Truly stunning within is the Historical Museum, housed in the 1896 former home of one of Baku's greatest late-19th-century oil barons.
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Imam Huseyn Mosque
Overshadowed by vast new apartment towers is the fine Imam Huseyn Mosque, featuring some attractive Moorish and Art Nouveau stone-design elements.
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Maiden's Tower
The tapering 29m Maiden's Tower is Baku's foremost architectural icon. Its century of construction is the subject of much debate, though its present form is 12th century. The Azeri name, Qız Qalası, is usually rendered 'Maiden's tower' in English, leading to plenty of patently fictitious fairy-tales. A popular version has a wealthy ruler falling in love with his own daughter.
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Museum of Independence
In the same building as the Carpet Museum is the far less compelling Museum of Independence.
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Nizami Museum of Azerbaijan Literature
Several of Baku's top museums were being very extensively renovated at the time of research but should reopen in 2008 or 2009. These include the Nizami Museum of Azerbaijan Literature, whose exterior facade has ogive arched niches set with statues of the nation's literary greats.
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Palace of the Shirvanshahs Complex
This charming if entirely unfurnished sandstone Palace of the Shirvanshahs Complex was the seat of northeastern Azerbaijan's ruling dynasty in the Middle Ages. Mostly 15th century in essence, it was painstakingly restored in 2003.
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Qız Qalası
If the State Art Museum is closed, you can still see great modern Azeri art at several commercial minigalleries with free admission, of which the most imaginative include Qız Qalası.
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Rostropovich Museum
Baku has many modest 'house museums' commemorating local cultural icons in the homes where they once lived. For foreign visitors a popular choice is the Rostropovich Museum given the international fame of the Bakuvian cellist and conductor Mstislav Rostropovich, who lived here as a child. However, it's of very limited interest to nonspecialists and no English is spoken.
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Şahidlər Xiyabani (Martyr's Lane)
High above the city centre's southwest corner lies the sombre memorial, Şahidlər Xiyabani (Martyr's Lane) of Bakuvian victims of the Red Army's 1990 attack. Those martyrs were swiftly joined by many more Azeris who died in the Karabakh conflict. A small memorial to British and Commonwealth troops killed around Baku during WWI has been erected nearby, causing considerable controversy. After all, the British had been sent to prevent the Turkish invasion which most Azeris supported.
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State Art Museum
The State Art Museum is housed in two impressive oil-boom mansions. The main building houses a collection of rather staid 19th-century Azeri and Russian art. But there's a much more interesting overview of Azeri modern art in the annexe immediately up the hill. If that's closed, you can still see great modern Azeri art at several commercial minigalleries with free admission, of which the most imaginative include Qız Qalası, Center of Contemporary Art and Ali Shamsir's Gallery.
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Theatre Museum
In the same building as the Carpet Museum is the far less compelling Theatre Museum.
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Turkish-style mosque
Şahidlər Xiyabani has a fine new Turkish-style mosque and at the edge of the gardens there's a viewpoint offering some splendid views across the bay and city.
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Təzə Pir Mosque
Amid an interesting warren of low-rise old homes that rises up the Yasamal Slopes lies the imposing Təzə Pir Mosque. It was built between 1903 and 1914 but a 2007 renovation has added gilding to its minaret tips and stone cladding to the surrounding buildings, which house the Centre for Islam in the Caucasus.
Showing 1-21 of 21 results
