Things to do in Şәki
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A
Çingis Klubu
The much more polished Çingis Klubu celebrates TV journalist and national hero Çingis Mustafayev who died in 1992 filming the Karabakh war. Photos of his life are complemented by a small but very well-chosen gallery of modern Azerbaijani paintings. A basement ethnographic room illustrates typical crafts. There’s also an air-conditioned cinema, whose 6pm screenings usually have English subtitles. Most films shown are somewhat more intellectual than typical Azerbaijani movie-house offerings.
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Khan’s Palace
Şəki’s foremost ‘sight’ is the two-storey Khan’s Palace, which was finished in 1762. It’s set in a walled rose garden behind two huge plane trees supposedly planted in 1530. The unique façade is decorated with silvered stalactite vaulting and geometric patterns in dark-blue, turquoise and ochre, magnificently setting off the intricate wood-framed, stained-glass windows known as şəbəkə.
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Karavansaray
Karavansaray is an historic caravanserai with a twin-level arcade of sturdy arches enclosing a pretty central courtyard. Stride through the somewhat daunting wooden gateway door and if questioned say you’re heading for the restaurant in the garden behind, a lovely place for a cuppa with a slice of Şəki’s signature halva (pastry with nuts; opposite).
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Museum of National Applied Art
Across the road is a late-19th-century Russian church in unusual cylindrical form, built on the site of a 6th-century Caucasian Albanian original. It now hosts the limited Museum of National Applied Art that displays fairly haphazard collections of Şəki crafts, including metalwork, pottery and embroidery. Hardly worth the money.
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Şəbəkə Workshop
More interesting is a Şəbəkə Workshop, where local craftsmen (no English) assemble traditional stained-glass windows, slotting together hundreds of hand-carved wooden pieces to create intricate wooden frames without metal fastenings. Small examples are sold as souvenirs.
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Şahin Kafesi
Within the fortress walls the café interior is entirely uninspiring but the outside dining booths are quaintly draped in living ivy and the food is way better than you might anticipate. The particularly outstanding vine-leaf mini dolma (AZN2) has a minty tang and arrives in a clay pot.
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Şəbəkə Restaurant
If you’re craving Western food, this suave jazz-toned hotel-restaurant offers professionally presented dishes at prices that seem expensive in Şəki but would be cheap as chips in Baku. Our penne in pesto sauce (AZN3.20) was perfectly al dente if lacking in pizzazz.
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Raşidbey Әfəndiyev Historical-Regional Ethnography Museum
The Raşidbey Әfəndiyev Historical-Regional Ethnography Museum, is more impressive than its exhibits: archaeological oddments, ethnographical artefacts and the usual emotive panels on WWII, Karabakh and the Xocalı massacre.
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Çələbi Xan Restoran
The interior pine décor is eccentric enough to make you feel you’re dining in a cuckoo clock. In summer there’s lots of space amid the trees outside and for just AZN1 you can fill up on a hearty borscht and basket of bread.
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B
Təzə Bazaar
The expansive Təzə Bazaar sells pottery, metalwork and carpets, as well as masses of fresh fruit, vegetables, meat and cheese. Saffron is a bargain at just 50q a pouch. Get there by southbound minibus 11, 8 or 5.
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C
Çempion Bar
This relatively quaint one-room cellar-bar is air-conditioned and comparatively comfortable. It’s easy to miss down a narrow stairway beside a barber’s shop on ‘Tae Kwon Do Alley’.
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House Museum
The lovers of perversely off-beat attractions can nonetheless admire Raşidbey Әfəndiyev's spectacles, family portraits and the textbooks which he penned at his loveably prosaic house museum.
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D
Space Kafe
Unadorned except for photo-posters of waving Әliyevs, the only options are çay (tea, 20q) or NZS beer (60q) plus noxut (boiled chickpeas) as a bar snack.
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E
Old Sheki Teahouse
Fabulously atmospheric, but only serving tea by the samovar accompanied by jams, fruit and confectionery (costing a minimum of AZN6).
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F
Buta Bar
This chic modern bar is by far the town’s most stylish and serves the best coffee in Şəki.
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G
