History of Azerbaijan

Baku, the capital city of Azerbaijan is the city which units East and West cultures in itself. If you walk in city you can observe mix of Islamic world and modern European culture. Ancient  modern and postmodern buildings are built in Baku during its existence. One of these buildings is the complex of Flame Towers. The complex with three buildings is the biggest in country. Construction of Flame Towers  started in 2007 and continued till 2012. The buildings consist of apartments, office blocks and a hotel. The facades of the three Flame Towers functuion as large display screen with more than ten thousand LED luminaires.

Photo credit: S. Mikayilova  Covering north and north-east regions of Azerbaijan territory Shirvanshahs` state was one of the long-lasting states in the history of Azerbaijani. Shamakhi, Baku, Shabran, Bandovan, Darband were the biggest cities and cultural centers of Shirvanshahs` state. Shamakhi was the first capital of the state, after the earthquake happened in 1192 they moved the capital to Baku. But Shamakhi was keeping its cultural dominance during the ages. During the archaeological excavations held in the cities of Shirvanshahs were found many artifacts showing us the life in the Medieval Ages in Azerbaijan. We can observe daily, agricultural, religious life, also craftsmanship with the help of archaeological finds. Craftsmen making handicrafts sometimes put some inscriptions on it. There are lots of epigraphic inscriptions on artifacts which are related to Shirvanshahs state. But mostly inscriptions were written on the stones. It could be pillars, pedestal...

The Maiden Tower or Giz Galasi is one of the symbols of Baku city, the capital of Azerbaijan Republic. Giz Galasi is used to date to the 12th century. But researches are continuing and shows that at least Maiden Tower was built in the 6th century BC. In the 12th century it was rebuilt or restored. And it was reconstructed by Masud Davudoghlu (one of the famous architect of that period). Height of the Maiden Tower is 28 m. Interesting point of that is the foot of Giz Galasi is 28 m below the level of World Ocean.  The use of Tower is still arguable. Some researchers say it was a temple, some think it was observatory while others argue on it was defence tower.  Nowadays, Giz Galasi is one of the touristic side in Baku, where in it operate museum. On the top of tower there is nice view of Baku city and Caspian Sea.