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Azerbaijan

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Things to see and do in Azerbaijan

Beshbarmaq Dag

Join spiritual Azeris on a climb up Beshbarmaq Dag (Five Finger Mountain), which rises dramatically 520m above the coast and is one of Azerbaijan's most holy animist sites.

Içeri Seher

Explore the fabulous Içeri Seher, the walled old city of Baku. The narrow streets, the old mansions and the myriad mosques make this the most authentic experience of Baku before the oil boom of the 20th century created the modern city.

Lahic

Shop for exquisite copper products in the Persian mountain town of Lahic, where great hiking, charming architecture and natural beauty combine for the ultimate mountain escape.

Maiden's Tower

Climb the multiple spiral staircases inside Maiden's Tower, which overlooks the Caspian in the Içeri Seher, and be privy to a stunning 360-degree view of the city.

Qobustan

Visit the enchantingly weird mud volcanoes of Qobustan and see the astonishing nearby Stone and Bronze Age petroglyphs all on a day trip from Baku.

Sheki

Discover Sheki, one of Azerbaijan's most beautiful towns, set in the mountains and with a large number of well-preserved mosques and caravanserais from the 18th century.

Walled City of Baku

Located on the western shore of the Caspian Sea, the ancient Walled City of Baku in the Azerbaijani capital of Baku was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage list along with the Shirvan Shah's Palace and Maiden Tower in 2000. The walled fort is built on a site inhabited since the Palaeolithic Period (thought to be between 100,000BC and 30,000BC) and archaeologists have found evidence of Zoroastrian, Sassanian, Arabic, Persian, Shirvani, Ottoman and Russian influences. The Shirvan Shah's Palace was built in the 12th century by the Shirvan Shah Dynasty who moved their capital to Baku from Shamakha after an earthquake. Baku developed as an important trading port and was captured and conquered by many warring empires before finally becoming the capital of Azerbaijan in 1920. The Walled City is the old part of the Baku and its maze of alleyways and ancient buildings still thrive with life today with the modern city fanning out around it.

Xinaliq

Discover the remote mountain village of Xinaliq, where you can find a unique ethnic group of 1,000 Tats, who have preserved the original language, customs and traditions of this ancient and threatened Iranian ethnic group from the Caucasus.

Yanar Dag

Watch the flames dance at Yanar Dag (fire mountain), a short distance from Baku, where a 10m (33ft) wall of fire blazes day and night thanks to underground natural gas. Pull up a chair at the nearby chaikhana at sunset.

Zoroastrianism

Uncover glimpses of Zoroastrianism at the Ateshgah Fire Temple in Surakhany. The temple was established by Parsee fire-worshippers living in Baku in the 18th century and Zoroastrians still occasionally stage ritual dances here.

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