Azerbajan: Baki Sights

Arun and I had most of Friday to take in the sights of Baki and so we did a whirlwind tour of the city. Arun and I really enjoyed the National History Museum and the mansion/residence of Taghiyev who was an oil baron in the late 19th and early 20th century. He is considered the Father of the Nation because of his immense contributions to the country- the first to build a water pipeline, open a women's college, donate his own property for the construction of a theater and he funded horticulture research.
When the Bolsheviks came into power, they seized his property and 'allowed' him to live in his summer home. After his death, his summer home was seized and his wife and children died in poverty in the streets of Soviet Azerbaijan. It's a source of quite a bit of National indignation and our friend Idamir (remember him!?) filled us in on a lot of the sad history.

I did see a wonderful art museum that was the State Museum of Azerbaijan. There were some beautiful miniature paintings and some illustrated manuscripts. I also took in a carpet museum that had exhibits of khilims and rugs from all the different regions in the country.

Of course, we had to go up the Maiden Tower. One of the legends regarding the Maiden Tower is that it is so named for the young woman who threw herself off the tower to resist the advances of the King (her father!).

And we saw the Shirvanshah Palace which is an ancient 15th century structure that is a UNESCO heritate site. This was during the Persian rule of Baki and we toured the divankhana (public meeting area) the palace mosque, the private bath house (hamam) and the mausoleum of the Shah's family. There was beautifully-cut stonework lattices and intricate porticos.

One of the questions I have received about Baki is the place of religion in the country. Yes, it is primarily Islamic (almost 94% of the population, with the vast majority being Shia.) During Soviet rule, the property of the Jewish population was seized and the country was largely secular. Due to this, most citizens can not read the Koran in Arabic, and it is rare to see head-coverings or burquas. The country has had a revived sense of religion since Independence. The current administration has encouraged the restoration of synagogues and locals told us that people are embracing Islam slowly. However, the Soviet history still lingers, and drinking is commonplace and eating pork is not rare. I'll end this 'edition' with a couple of last pictures from the Old City.