Panoramic of the Shirvanshah Palace.

Panoramic of Shirvanshah

The dream on the old center of Baku, Capital of Azerbaijan.

Located on the southern shore of the Apsheron peninsula, Azerbaijan's capital was founded 1,500 years ago. The first written reference to Baku dates from 885, although archaeologists have found remains of a settlement predating by several centuries the birth of Christ. The city became important after an earthquake destroyed Shemakha and the of the 12th century and the Shirvanshah, Ahistan I, made Baku the new capital. There are a few theories about the origin of the name, the most widely known being that Baku comes from bad kube, meaning "city of winds". The climate is sunny and arid, with gale-force winds that sweep through on occasion, caused by masses of polar air. Baku is located on the western shore of the Caspian Sea and is Azerbaijan's largest city, with wonderful beaches, spas and a striking setting on the salty Caspian Sea. The basis of Baku's economy is petroleum. The existence of petroleum has been known since the 8th century. By the 15th century oil for lamps was obtained from surface wells. Commercial exploitation began in 1872, and by the beginning of the 20th century the Baku oil field was the largest in the world. Towards the end of the 20th century much of the land's petroleum had been exhausted, and drilling had extended into the sea. Baku ranks as one of the largest centres for the production of oil industry equipment. The World War II Battle of Stalingrad was fought to determine who would have control of the Baku oil fields. Fifty years before the battle, Baku supplied half of the world's oil production. In recent years oil has made the city affluent again, but Baku is still a conservative place. You don't see many women covering their heads, but you'll notice many small revealing details e.g. ladies go to the toilet for a cigarette, couples don't kiss in public... Today's Baku is really three cities rolled into one: the old town (icheri shekher), the boomtown and the Soviet-built town. The centre of Baku is the old town, which is also a fortress. The walled city of Baku became in December 2000 the first location in Azerbaijan classified as world cultural site by UNESCO. Most of the walls and towers, strengthened after the Russian conquest in 1806, survive. This section is picturesque, with its maze of narrow alleys and ancient buildings. Wander the cobbled streets past the Palace of the Shirvanshahs, two caravansaraies (ancient inns), the 11th-century Maiden's Tower (nice view of the harbour), the baths and the Djuma Mosque (it used to house the exquisite Carpet and Applied Arts Museum, but now is a Mosque again... and by the way the carpets are now at the former V.I. Lenin museum). The old town also has dozens of small mosques, often without any particular sign to distinguish them from the next building. The boomtown, south of the old city, was built after massive oil exploitation began nearly a century ago and has interesting beaux-arts architecture. Fine arts, history and literature museums are located there, all housed in the mansions of pre-Revolutionary millionaires. Modern Baku, mainly a Soviet brain-child spreads out from the walls, its streets and buildings rising up hills that rim the Bay of Baku. The flow money brought by the oil industry in the 21st century changed the skyline, with numerous tall building of doubtful architecture and quality framing the city. Greater Baku is divided into 11 districts and 48 townships. Among these are townships on islands in the bay and one island town built on stilts in the Caspian Sea, 100 kilometres from Baku proper ('Oil Rocks'). If you have a the stamina, it is worth walking uphill to the Martyr's Cemetery, formerly the Kirov park (there is also a funicular, but it's often out of order, so you better take a taxi). This area is now dedicated to the memory of those who lost their lives during the war with Armenia and also to the 137 people who were killed on 19 & 20 January 1990 when Soviet tanks and troops took to the streets of Baku. Photographs of victims featured on each tomb-stone are sobering and poignant. Now 20 January has become a national holiday of deep emotional meaning. Many expats working oil industry in the oil industry are to be found around Baku, but tourists are still a rare sight. The government has be busy campaigning abroad, but Baku and Azerbaijan are still not 'tourist ready'. However things are changing and Baku boasts its first tourism information center, at Hajibeyov St. 36, created with the support of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).

http://wikitravel.org/en/Sheki Shaki (Azerbaijani: Şəki; until 1968 Nukha, Azerbaijani: Nuxa), sometimes written as Seki or Sheki, is a city in North-west Azerbaijan, in the rayon of the same name. Shaki is situated in northern Azerbaijan on the southern part of the Greater Caucasus mountain range, 325 km (200 miles) from Baku.The population of Shaki is 63,000 Contents According to the Azerbaijan Development Gateway, the name of the town goes back to the ethnonym of the Sakas, who reached the territory of modern day Azerbaijan in the 7th century B.C. and populated it for several centuries. In the medieval sources, the name of the town is found in various forms such as Sheke, Sheki, Shaka, Shakki, Shakne, Shaken, Shakkan, Shekin. There are traces of the large-scale settlements in Shaki that date to more than 2700 years ago. The Sakas were an Iranian people that wandered from the north side of the Black Sea through Derbend passage and to the South Caucasus and from there to Asia Minor in the 7th century B.C. They occupied a good deal of the fertile lads in the South Caucasus in an area called Sakasena. The city of Shaki was one of the areas occupied by the Sakas. The original settlement dates back to the late Bronze Age. Shaki was one of the biggest cities of the Albanian states in the 1st century. The main temple of the ancient Albanians was located there. The kingdom of Shaki was divided into 11 administrative provinces. Shaki had been one of the important political and economic cities before the Arab invasion. But as a result of the invasion, Shaki was annexed to the third emirate. An independent principality was established in tames of a weakened Arabian caliphate. She was also managed by Georgian Kingdom, Atabegs of Azerbaijan and Khwarezmid Empire before Mongol invasion. After the collapse of the Hulakis in the first half of the 14th century, Shaki gained independence immediately after the states of Shirvanshahs and the Orlat dynasty came into power. Shah Tahmasp put an end to the independence of Shaki in 1551 and annexed it to Safavid Iran except Ottoman administration between 1578-1603 and 1724-1735. Then the Shaki khanate was established in 1743, and was one of the strongest feudal states among the Caucasian khanates. Caravanserai in Shaki Caravanserai in Shaki As a result of the flood in the river Kish, the city of Shaki was partially ruined and the population was resettled in the present day city. The Shaki khanate became a vassal of the Russian Empire in accordance with the second Kurekchay Treaty of 1805. The area was fully annexed by Russia by the Treaty of Gulistan in 1813 and the khanate was abolished in 1819 and in its place the Shaki province was established. During its history, the town was devastated many times and because of that, the oldest historic and architectural monuments currently preserved are dated to only the 16th-19th centuries. For many centuries, Shaki has been famous as the basic center of silkworm-breeding. Originally located on the left bank of the river Kish, the town sited lower down the hill, however Shaki was moved to its present location after a devastating flood in 1772 and became the capital of Shaki Khanate. As the new location was near the village of Nukha, the city became also known as Nukha, until 1960 when it reverted back to the name Shaki. Shaki is famous for the 18th century Khan's palace and caravanserai. (wikipedia) VALPARD FILMS http://valpardfilms.awardspace.com/