Azerbaijan

2 days in Baku: The largest city below sea level

On May 18, 2019
By Shruti
Comments Off on 2 days in Baku: The largest city below sea level

This itinerary for 2 Days trip in Baku covers history, architecture, nature and geological phenomenon. Baku is the largest city on the Caspian Sea. Did you know, Caspian Sea is the world’s biggest salt water lake. Hence called the sea although it doesn’t join into any ocean. Few people know that being 28mtrs below sea level, Baku is also the largest city in the world to be located below sea level. Baku personifies the blend of centuries old heritage and new oil money. The centuries old buildings during the silk route era stand magnificently and beautifully alongside tall new age skyscrapers. Travel to Baku with kids can be fun and knowledgeable if planned well.

In this 2 days itinerary in Baku, I have split both of the 2 days in Baku in first and second half so its easier to plan with the kids and family.

Day 1 Morning: Icheri Seher (Maiden tower, Shirvanshah’s Palace)
Icheri Seher or the old city is the walled city part of Azerbaijan. A 2 days itinerary in Baku will usually start from here. The inhabitants lived in the walled city till almost 19^th century. As a result of oil industry’s development the city started expanding beyond the walls. Since that time, this historical part of Baku surrounded by walls is known as Icheri Seher (Inner city).
Key places to see in this part include Maiden Tower, Shirvanshah’s Palace, walk around in Icheri Seher, Museum of miniature books, old bath houses and Caravanserais. Maiden Tower and Shirvanshah’s Palace got listed in the UNESCO World Heritage list in 2000.
Maiden Tower (Qiz Qalasi in Azerbaijani):
History: A 12th century monument, listed in UNESCO World Heritage site, it is Azerbaijan’s most distinctive national emblem featuring in currency notes, memorabilia and almost all things touristy and national. There are mixed opinions amongst the historians on what was this tower actually used for. Some opine it was as a temple while some others think of it as a defense tower. Just like in Azerbaijan, the neighboring Iran, Iraq and Turkey also have many structures with Maiden in their names.
Museum & Exhibits: The tower houses a museum which was a huge hit with my kids. The museum shows the history of this tower and Baku city by means of various interactive exhibits and activities. My kids enjoyed the different exhibits like play the battle game, how different battle techniques like dropping oil, using firearms could be used to fight with the enemy, e-books which look exactly like a book and you can turn the pages to read stories about and around the maiden tower. It had a lot of folklore stories around why it is called Maiden Tower etc.
There are some nice exhibits around all the different artifacts which were excavated here and moved to other museums in the world. While some of the clay pots excavated here date back to 4th century BC, there is no evidence that suggests that the tower itself is that old.
If you are planning to travel to Baku with kids, Maiden tower museum is a must have on your list.
Architecture: It is a cylindrical eight story structure, 97ft tall. There are stairs inside and one can climb up all the way to the top and enjoy a panoramic view of the Baku Bay and the city as well. Looking from above, it’s in the shape of a Buta (the shape of fire, originated from Zorastrian and Sanskrit)
Ticket and Queues: While you can enjoy looking at the tower from outside for free, there is a ticket of 10 Manat to go inside the tower. As compared to the queues you may have seen in other parts of the world, it doesn’t get so serpentine here.

3D Effect outside Maiden Tower — Maiden Tower

Palace of the Shirvanshah’s:
History: This 15th Century palace of the Shirvanshah’s marked the change of capital from Shamakha to Baku when Shamakha got destroyed in an earthquake. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Reaching there
There are two different options if you choose to walk from Maiden tower. Make sure to go via the twin gates route as you get to see the rest of Icheri Sheher as you walk.
What to see in the palace:
The complex contains the main building of the palace, Divan Khana, the burial-vaults, the shah’s mosque with a minaret, Seyid Yahya Bakuvi’s mausoleum (the so-called “mausoleum of the dervish”), a portal in the east, Murad’s gate, a reservoir and the remnants of a bath house from 15th century.
Throne room is one of the must see in the main building. The effects given to central dome shouldn’t be missed.
Bath Houses: The bath houses were discovered during the archaeological excavations carried out in 1939. Being an integral part of the palace, these were decorated with tiles both inside and outside.
Ticket and Queues:
Like with any other monument, there is a small ticket to visit the palace from the inside. Since we were visiting in a non-tourist season, there was practically no queue and just enough tourists to make you feel that the place is worth visiting.

Museum of Miniature Books
Its an interesting collection of 6500 miniature books collected by Zarifa Salahova over 30yrs from 64 countries. It was started in 2002 and holds the Guiness Book of Records for being the largest private collection of miniature books across. Some of the interesting books to look out for:
Rare ancient religious books in the museum with the most ancient one being the Koran which was published in Saudi Arabia in 1672 . The age of the books in the museum is more that 100yrs. Another one is a miniature book which consists of the songs of ”Beatles” music group.
The museum has several thousands of the fairy-sized books: macro-mini, miniature, micro-mini and ultra-mini micro. The world’s three smallest books with size of 2mm x 2mm each that can only be read with the use of a magnifying glass which were published by “Toppan Publishing House” are also exhibited in the Baku Museum of Miniature Books: “The language of flowers”, “Birthstone”, and “The signs of the Zodiac”. These books were published in 1978 in Tokyo.

Day 1 Afternoon: Carpet Museum, flame Towers, Highland Park
Head to the Baku Boulevard. It is a really long boulevard extending along the Caspian Sea border of Baku. Located on the Boulevard is Little Venice, named so due to the small artificial canals built where one can enjoy a leisurely boating. Up ahead is the Carpet Museum. Carpet museum is closed on Mondays so make sure you plan accordingly.
Carpet Museum:
What to see in the museum
During your 2 days trip in Baku, the carpet museum is a must see. It looks like a rolled carpet itself, designed by the Austrian architect Franz Janz. Apart from having the largest collection of Azerbaijani carpets in the world, the museum boasts of over 10,000 items of ceramics, metal works of the 14th century, jewellery from the Bronze Age, carpets and carpet items from the 17th-20th centuries, national garments and embroidery, and applied art works of the Modern Age.
The museum also holds a permanent collection from the Shusha Museum of History, from the city of Shusha, which was looted after occupation by Armenian troops in 1992. Some of the exhibited items of the Shusha museum were saved when the director of the museum moved out 600 carpets before occupation. They are now displayed at the museum in an exhibition titled “Burned Culture”.
Opening and Closing Time: All days from 10 to 6 except Monday,
So make sure you plan accordingly.
Baku Boulevard and Highland Park
If you are very tired or its not a full 2 days trip in Baku, you may want to skip the Highland Park as at the end of the day its just a vantage point for looking at the full city.
Baku Boulevard is a nice area to walk along the Caspian Sea, very much like a quiet and more beautiful Marina.
As it gets pretty cold at night, you wouldn’t find many people that time.
Highland Park is not a park. Its actually a viewing terrace with amazing views of the Baku skyline and Flame Towers. Also known as the Upland park, different places on the internet will use a different name, but they are both the same. Views worth looking at include the view of Flame Towers and the overall sea line next to the Caspian Sea for Baku.
The best time to go there is in the evening so you can see the sea line before the sunset and the lit up Baku skyline when it starts getting dark.
The Highland Park is almost completely stroller friendly, except the last stretch of stairs for which there are no ramps.

Day 2 Morning: Gobustan Petroglyphs and archaeological museum, and Mud Volcanoes
While Gobustan is not technically in Baku, I have included it in 2 days itinerary in Baku as the petroglyphs are unique and not found so well preserved with a fantastic musuem, in many places around the world.
Plan to see the museum first and then the actual petroglyphs, as then you will be able to relate better when you see the real thing.
Gobustan Museum: it’s an interactive museum with a lot of interactive exhibits which are both educational and fun for kids including painting, match the animal, how different types of boats were made, hunting etc. This is the other museum which should be on your must do list when planning a travel to Baku with kids.
The whole museum is divided into two levels and each level comprises of information on rock art, animals and hunting & life and culture during that period.There is also a lot of information about archaeology, how archaeologists excavate, how petroglyphs are studied and interpreted.
The museum starts by plotting out petroglyphs present all over the world and dating those to different times and ages
Bhimbetka Rock Shelters in India have colorful well preserved rock paintings but doesn’t have such interesting exhibits or museums around it. Something that India has to learn.
After the museum the cab or tour guide will take you to see the rocks where you find the actual petroglyphs. Enroute you can also see a rock with roman inscriptions dating back to the times when roman armies had attacked Azerbaijan.
The walk for petroglyphs is not stroller friendly and it’s about 20-30min walk in which you get to see a lot of petroglyphs
Do notice the musical rocks too. There is a small fish or boat shaped rock with some small stones kept in it. When you strike the big rock with the stones different notes are produced as the rock is probably hollow from inside.

Day 2 Afternoon: Ateshgah Fire Temple, Yanar Dag, Haider Aliyev Center
Ateshgah of Surakhany, as it’s called, is a temple of fire worshippers. It is also one of the most distinguished and unique religious and historical monument considering the confluence of religions this place seems to have seen. That period also saw the first Ateshgah to be built by 2/3rd century AD and gradually by 17th century the whole caravanserai kind of structure was built around Ateshgah temple by the Indian (Hindu, Parsee and Sikh) trading community. Ateshgah is considered to be one of the 4 sacred hindu temples in the world dedicated to Jwala Ji.
The temple has rock edicts in Devanagari, Gurmukhi and Farsi scripts. This temple also has clay pots and metal utensils probably used during those days found during excavations.
In the initial days, the central sanctum fire used to burn due to naturally occurring. The central sanctum has a fire burning with piped gas which is brought from other parts of Azerbaijan. This place had a naturally occurring fire in the 17th century when the temple was at its most prosperous.
As with the other monuments in Azerbaijan, this place has a lot of interesting exhibits about the history of this place, confluence of different fire worshiper religions and their religious practices, fire worshiping and history of Silk Route as it passed through Azerbaijan.

Inscriptions in Devnagari and Arabic — Inscriptions in Devnagari and Persian

Nataraj excavated — Inscriptions in Devnagari and Persian

Haider Aliyev Center
Designed by Irani-British architect Zaha Hadid, this building is noted for its distinctive architecture and flowing, curved style that eschews sharp angles.
Named after Heydar Aliyev, a national leader and the founder of modern Azerbaijan. Heydar Aliyev was also the first secretary of Soviet Azerbaijan from 1969 to 1982, and president of Azerbaijan Republic from October 1993 to October 2003
There are multiple exhibits and there are 2 distinct sections of exhibits. One side is all the Multi material sculptures on the first floor and about life and times of Haider Aliyev on the 2,3 and 4th floor. The last floor has some interesting artefacts which were sent as national gifts by various countries to Azerbaijan. The other side has miniature models of all the major architectures of Baku and stairs leading up to a doll museum which has a lot of different kinds of dolls.
Yanar Dag
Literally meaning burning mountain, is now just a small area on a hillside on the Absheron Peninsula where when the gas seeps to the subsurface and comes in contact with the air, catches fire and continues to burn as the gas continues to seep.
At times, when there is higher amount of gas seeping, flames as high as 3mtrs (9.8ft) can be seen jetting into the air from a thin, porous sandstone layer.
It’s just a walk down a few steps (just about 1 floor) to see the continuously blazing fire at the bottom of a Hillock. It happens due to the gas seeping up from the sub surface

If you have more time in Baku on the day you land or the day you are leaving, take a walk on the Nizami Street and notice the artistic and old motifs at some of the historic buildings (residential and otherwise) on this street. A lot of good restaurants are also around this area, so you could plan an lunch time to visit here. Check this post to know vegetarian options in Azerbaijan. Other places that you will notice as you drive or walk around Baku are ANAS Presidium Building, Museum of Azerbaijan Literature and Sculpture of Nizami Ganjavi. Beyond Baku, you could plan day trip to Gabala, Shamakhi and Sheki from Baku.