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AZERBAIJAN Azerbaijan was once a major stopover on the Great Silk Route, and there are many captivating sights to see in this ancient country - Bronze Age petro glyphs, medieval minarets and mosques, the famous carpets. With an oil bonanza incipient, the capital Baku is fast becoming a boomtown. CLIMATE IN AZERBAIJAN Azerbaijan was once a major stopover on the Great Silk Route, and there are many captivating sights to see in this ancient country - Bronze Age petroglyphs, medieval minarets and mosques, the famous carpets. With an oil bonanza incipient, the capital Baku is fast becoming a boomtown. VISA INFORMATION FOR TOURISTS To obtain a visa on arrival at Baku airport, a passport photo and a fee of US$100 is required. An invitation is not necessary but it is recommended to hold a document that shows the purpose of the visit. ATTRACTIONS AND THINGS TO DO Baku About a fifth of Azerbaijan's population lives in the capital, the biggest metropolis in Transcaucasia. This handsome city is built around a perfect harbour, Baku Bay, a notch in the underside of the Apsheron Peninsula. The heart of the historic city is Ichari Shahar (the Inner City, or Old Town). The Inner City is one of the oldest continuously inhabited spots in the country - and in the Middle East. Archaeological digs have revealed Bronze Age burial chambers. This is the most popular area of the city, a maze of alleys, dead ends and caravanserais sometimes called the 'Acropolis of Baku.' Apsheron Peninsula On the Apsheron Peninsula there are several fine medieval castles - one each at Ramana and Nardaran and two at Mardakyany. At Ramana you can also see the remains of ancient oil fields. Mardakyany has a botanic garden and a 15th century mosque with an exhibit on the castles. Atesgah Fire Temple You are unlikely to see anything else like this majestic temple outside of India. The temple is built on the site of a natural gas vent believed to have been sacred to the Zoroastrians since the 6th century AD. To get a sense of how the worshippers lived you can visit the inside museum and discover the ritual required to have your wishes granted. The Atashgah Temple, also known as the Temple of the Fire worshippers, has been a centre of worship for thousands of years. The area is so saturated with natural gas and oil that flames spontaneously erupt from the ground - hence the country's other name, Odlar Yourdu, or 'Land of Fires', and the name of the temple, which means 'home of fire'. Much of the existing structure has been built since the 17th century, when pilgrims began paying local officials for permission to construct places to pray and sleep. Among the most interesting things to see at the temple are the ancient Sanskrit and Hindi inscriptions and the onion dome - signs that Atashgah and its fire worship were heavily influenced by India. Flames burn at each corner of the roof, fed by natural gas deposits under the ground. The temple is part of a larger complex of religious buildings. Qobustan Museum Gobustan is an open-air museum littered with neolithic rock drawings. It has some 4000 inscriptions that go back 12,000 years (along with some 2000-year-old Latin graffiti to boot). Tours are guided by helpful staff and are worth paying for, as the details of the petroglyphs and what they portray are largely incomprehensible to the casual visitor. Stone Age folks sporting loin cloths pose, hunt and boogie down in the petroglyphs. Their dances are thought to have been accompanied by the melodious strains of the Gaval-Dashy (Tambourine Stone) - a rock that has a deep, resonating tone when struck. |
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