History in Baku

20 Yanvar st.

Baku

28 May

Baku

8 Noyabr

Baku

Alley of Honor

Baku

Fəxri Xiyaban — "Alley of Honour" — is Azerbaijan''s most prestigious burial ground. Founded in 1948 on a hillside overlooking the Caspian Sea, the site is reserved exclusively for individuals of exceptional merit to the country: scientists, poets, statesmen, athletes, and war heroes. Between tall cypresses and polished marble monuments, locals come to pay their respects but also to stroll — the site has a parklike quality despite its solemn purpose. The view across Baku Bay and the oil fields on the horizon gives the grounds a striking openness. A particularly moving time to visit is after dark, when the eternal flames burning at the graves of soldiers fallen in the Nagorno-Karabakh war glow quietly in the stillness.

Ateshgah of Baku

Baku

The Ateshgah (House of Fire) in Surakhany near Baku is a former fire temple where Hindu, Zoroastrian, and Sikh pilgrims performed rituals until the 19th century. Built in the 17th and 18th centuries around an eternally burning natural gas flame, it was an important pilgrimage site for Indian merchants active on the Silk Road. When oil fields nearby were opened in 1883, falling gas pressure extinguished the flame. Currently a UNESCO World Heritage candidate.

Azerbaijan Railway Museum

Baku

The Azerbaijan Railway Museum in Baku, opened in 2019 by the state railway Azərbaycan Dəmir Yolları, presents the history of railways in Azerbaijan from Tsarist beginnings to the present. Locomotives, carriages, and historical equipment displayed indoors and in the open air.

Azerbaijan State Russian Drama Theatre

Baku

The Samed Vurgun Russian Drama Theatre in Baku is one of Azerbaijan's most significant playhouses, performing exclusively in Russian since its founding in 1920. The repertoire spans classical Russian drama and contemporary productions for Baku's Russian-speaking community.

Baku Olympic Stadium

Baku

The Baku Olympic Stadium, completed in 2015, is Azerbaijan's largest sports venue with a capacity of 68,000. It replaced the historic Tofiq Bahramov Stadium as the home of the national football team and made its international debut as the centrepiece of the inaugural European Games 2015, signalling Baku's ambition as a major event destination. Since then it has hosted a UEFA Europa League final and serves as a backdrop to the Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix festivities. Its sweeping illuminated facade is one of the most visually striking landmarks along Baku's renovated seafront boulevard.

Baku railway station

Baku

Baku's central railway station is the city's main gateway for rail travellers, and its architecture tells the story of Soviet urban ambition: grand arches, vast waiting halls and a facade designed to project authority. The station handles long-distance services to destinations across Azerbaijan as well as international routes to Tbilisi and Moscow. It also anchors the suburban ring railway connecting Baku with the industrial city of Sumqayıt. Arriving here by train offers an immediate sense of the Soviet-era neighbourhood that surrounds the building, a striking contrast to the glassy modernity of downtown Baku.

Bibi-Heybat Mosque

Baku

On the shores of the Caspian Sea at the edge of Baku stands the Bibi-Heybat Mosque, one of the most important Shia pilgrimage sites in the South Caucasus. Originally built in 1281 under the Shirvanshah dynasty, it was named after the sister of the eighth Shia Imam ʿAlī ibn Mūsā ar-Ridā. Its history mirrors the turbulence of the 20th century: demolished by Soviet authorities in 1936, its site was paved over for decades. Following Azerbaijani independence, it was faithfully reconstructed in the 1990s. Today it functions as a living place of worship and a national symbol of religious renewal.

Cemetery of German prisoners of war, Baku

Baku

Tucked away in the Yasamal district of Baku, this is one of the few German prisoner-of-war cemeteries on the territory of present-day Azerbaijan. Ninety German soldiers and POWs who died in Soviet captivity after World War II are buried here. A black cross stands at the centre of the grounds as a quiet memorial. Established in 1946, the cemetery lies off the main tourist routes but remains a significant site of remembrance – a testament to the human tragedy of war beyond national borders.

Church of the Saviour

Baku

The Church of the Saviour in Baku is a quiet witness to German history in the Caucasus. In the late 19th century a significant community of Caucasus Germans — descendants of settlers who had come to the Russian Empire under Tsar Alexander I — lived in Baku. They built this Lutheran church with donations from their community, with the businessman Adolf Eichler playing a leading role. It was consecrated on 14 March 1899. The historicist building features a slender tower and a plain but dignified facade. After the Soviet takeover the congregation was dissolved and the building put to other uses. Today it serves as a concert hall of the Azerbaijani Ministry of Culture and occasionally hosts classical concerts — an unusual afterlife for a house of worship.

House of Government

Baku

The House of Government in Baku — Azerbaijani: Hökumət Evi — is one of the most imposing buildings in the Azerbaijani capital and a striking example of late-Stalinist architecture. Completed in 1952, it was designed to accommodate 5,500 employees and today houses various Azerbaijani ministries. It stands on Neftchiler Avenue directly opposite the Baku Boulevard, looking out towards the Caspian Sea. The heavy, symmetrical facade with its colonnades and monumental central section is characteristic of socialist classicism of the post-war era. The building is a prominent architectural relic of Azerbaijan's Soviet period — visible to all, yet closed to the public.

Palace of the Shirvanshahs

Baku

The Palace of the Shirvanshahs is Azerbaijan's most outstanding architectural monument, described by UNESCO as "one of the pearls of Azerbaijan's architecture." Built in the 15th century, the complex sits on a hill within the walled old city of Baku and comprises multiple buildings: the main palace, the Divanhane (an open audience loggia), the Shah's mosque, mausoleums, a bathhouse, and a water reservoir. Together with the Maiden Tower, it forms the UNESCO World Heritage ensemble of the Historic Centre of Baku. Today it is the country's most visited historic monument.

Ramana Tower

Baku

Ramana Castle is a medieval fortress ruin in the village of Ramana on the Absheron Peninsula, today part of greater Baku. Dating to the 14th and 15th centuries, this hilltop fortress formed part of a defensive ring protecting the strategically vital Caspian peninsula. Registered by Azerbaijan's Ministry of Culture as a monument of world significance, it has been on the UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List since 2001 as part of the "Defensive Structures of the Caspian Sea." From the surviving walls, broad views stretch across the stark landscape of the peninsula — a striking image of transience and history.

Sheikh Ibrahim Mosque

Baku

The Sheikh Ibrahim Mosque in Baku's ancient walled city İçəri Şəhər was built between 1415 and 1416, making it one of the oldest surviving mosques in Azerbaijan. It was commissioned by Haji Amirshah ibn Yagub during the reign of Shirvanshah I Ibrahim, after whom the mosque is named. The dedicatory inscription on the facade is a rare authentic document of early Islamic architecture in this region. Located on Asaf Zeynalli Street within the UNESCO World Heritage İçəri Şəhər, the mosque remains an active place of worship nestled in Baku's living medieval urban fabric.