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Azerbaijan
Billing itself as the 'Land of Fire', Azerbaijan (Azərbaycan) is a tangle of contradictions and contrasts. Neither Europe nor Asia, it's a nexus of ancient historical empires, but also a ‘new’ nation which has undergone an extraordinary transformation from the war-ravaged post-Soviet 1990s to an oil-enriched host of Formula 1 and Europa League football.
The cosmopolitan capital, Baku, rings a Unesco-listed ancient core with dazzling 21st-century architecture and sits on a balmy bay of the Caspian Sea. In the surrounding semi-desert are mud volcanoes and curious fire phenomena. Yet barely three hours’ drive away, timeless rural villages lie amid lush orchards backed by the soaring Great Caucasus Mountains.
Come quickly. Having long been overlooked by visitors, Azerbaijan's new easy visas, bargain-value hotels and close-packed range of beautiful landscapes are starting to attract significant flows of tourists, though as yet few of them from Western countries.
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Top attractions
These are our favorite local haunts, touristy spots, and hidden gems throughout Azerbaijan.
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Heydar Aliyev Center
Vast and jaw-droppingly original, this Zaha Hadid building is a majestic statement of fluid 21st-century architecture forming abstract waves and peaks that seem to melt together. The real delight is simply pondering and photographing the extraordinary exterior from ever-changing angles. The interior is impressive, too, and hosts concerts and several exhibition spaces. Arguably the best part of the permanent collection is 'Treasures of Azerbaijan', which walks you through the nation's cultural highlights. Buses 1 and 2 stop near the building's southeastern flank, bus 5 passes a block to the north of the main entrance, near its western corner.
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Maiden’s Tower
This tapering 29m stone tower is Baku’s foremost historical icon, with rooftop views surveying Baku Bay and the Old City. Possibly millennia old, its construction date is the subject of much debate, though much of the present structure appears to be 12th century. The Azeri name, Qız Qalası, is usually rendered ‘Maiden’s Tower’ in English, leading to plenty of patently fictitious fairy tales. Various versions are considered in the imaginative little multimedia installations that adorn several floors of the tower's interior. A better translation of Qız Qalası would be ‘Virgin Tower’, alluding to military impenetrability rather than any association with tragic females. It was certainly an incredibly massive structure for its era, with walls 5m thick at the base and an unusual projecting spine-buttress.
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Yarat Contemporary Art Centre
Yarat means 'create', a spirit that's in ample evidence in this centre's many thought-provoking installations that don't shy away from sociopolitical commentary. Even the cafe is inspired, set around a repurposed metal-press rescued as part of the revamping of this former naval-factory building. Well worth the journey to 3.5km south of Azneft Sq, it's part of an extensively regenerated public space between Flag Sq and the sleek Aquatics Centre. Access is easiest by bicycle along Yeni Bulvar. By public transport hop on bus 5 from the train station, Sahil Metro, or Azneft Sq, alight at Səbail meydanı and cross beneath the Salyan Hwy using the underpass.
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Flame Towers
Completed in 2012, this trio of sinuous blue-glass skyscrapers forms contemporary Baku's architectural signature. The three towers range from 28 to 33 storeys – so huge that they're most impressive seen from a considerable distance, especially at night when they form a vast palette for a light show which interchanges between fire effects, pouring water and the national flag. A fine vantage point for photos is near the Bahram Gur Statue, near the base station for the funicular which is novel, painless way to get closer to the towers.
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Palace of the Shirvanshahs
This splendid confection of sandstone walls and domes was the seat of northeastern Azerbaijan’s ruling dynasty during the Middle Ages. Mostly 15th century, it was painstakingly (over)restored in 2003 with artefacts adding interest plus one or two entertaining audiovisual surprises. Enter via the main ceremonial courtyard. A small gateway on the left leads into the courtyard of the 1428 Divanxanə, an open-sided, octagonal rotunda where Shirvanshah Khalilullah I once assembled his court: a decidedly small court it would seem, judging from the structure’s diminutive size. To see the whole palace complex without paying for entrance, buy a drink on the rooftop at Floors or climb to the 'secret' rooftop of the Artım art space.
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Fountains Square
Ever-popular with strollers, this leafy piazza forms Central Baku’s natural focus. The fountains for which it is named include one topped by shiny silvered spheres giving fish-eye reflections of the trees and stone facades. Don't miss the beautiful statue-inlayed facade of the Nizami Literature Museum, best photographed at night. And outside the large McDonald’s notice the bronze statue of a young lady with umbrella, bare midriff and mobile phone. Very Baku.
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MOMA
This joyous tailor-made gallery uses struts and tubing to create a wide variety of intimate viewing spaces, in many of which you can recline on bean-bag sofas as you contemplate the extensive collection of mind-bending, predominantly post-1980 Azerbaijani art. Upstairs, some earlier 20th-century canvases also appear, along with three original Picassos, a Dalí and a Chagal. Eastbound buses 1 and 2 from the train station stop directly across a thundering 12-lane road from the gallery. To find the returning buses, however, you'll need to walk two blocks north.
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İlisu Village
Two beautiful high-altitude valleys meet at charming little İlisu. Amazingly this diminutive village of photogenic old homes was once the capital of a short-lived 18th-century sultanate. Many houses retain box windows, arched doorways and red-tiled roofs, there's an antique mosque and several remnant fortifications. At the very southwestern end of the village, the square-plan, five-storey Summaqala Tower is rather over-restored but it commands a picture-perfect valley view towards distant snow-topped peaks. At the northernmost end of İlisu there are more fine views from the Uludağ restaurant-resort. Turn right and hike 40 minutes uphill to find a locally famous waterfall ( şələlə). Walking up the main valley towards Russia isn't allowed (closed border zone). Reaching the curious hamlet of Saribaş is possible by any 4WD that is capable of fording the river en route.
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Qala Ethnographic Museum Complex
This impressive open-air park-museum features several furnished, traditional-style Abşeron buildings – such as a house, blacksmith's forge, potters' workshop. Some are originals while others are reconstructions, and all are set amid a wide range of archaeological finds and petroglyphs. There's minimal shade so visiting in mid-summer can be exhausting. The easiest way to get here is on an excursion sold at the ticket booth of Baku's Maiden's Tower and departing at 3pm from outside the old city's double gates (AZN15 return, around three hours total). By public transport, Türkan-bound bus 101 from Baku’s Ulduz metro passes within 300m of the museum complex. Walk west along Sülh street to find it. Bus 182 loops from Qala round to Mərdəkən.
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