Walking Tour of the Old City
From the 12th century, Baku has established itself as a key location on the Silk Road. thanks to its strategic position on the Caspian Sea. The city’s architecture includes Persian, Ottoman and local Azerbaijani influences.

A main landmark, is the Maiden Tower, one of the oldest structures, built around the 12th century and the subject of countless legends. The Palace of the Shirvanshahs, another major site, is a 15th-century palace complex that showcases the wealth and grandeur of the Shirvanshah dynasty.

The Old City has a huge amount of history through its well preserved buildings, narrow alleyways, ancient mosques and old caravansarais.

Fire Temple
Azerbaijan has an abundance of natural gas, which to early visitors was revered and worshipped particularly by travellers of the Zoroastrianism relgion, one of the world’s oldest religions. The gas here ran out in 1902, but a gas pipe provides it currently. The building was originally a caravansarais (roadside inn designed to support travelers, merchants, and their animals along major trade routes, like the Silk Road).

Fire Mountain (Yannadag)
A place where the natural gas is on fire at the bottom of a hill.

Heydar Aliyev Centre
Designed by Iraqi-British architect Zaha Hadid, opened in 2012, which has no straight lines, with its curved, wave-like shape and innovative use of space has turned it into an icon of modern Azerbaijan. In 2014 it won the London Design Museum’s prestigious Design of the Year Award.