Baku Azerbaijan

This account is a bit of a hotch potch of impressions and information.

What an amazing surprise. I had seen the famous flame buildings in photos but had no idea the city was so modern and European looking. Also different is the stray animals are cats not dogs! There are little cat houses everywhere and the community feeds them. We have seen kittens frequently.

At night the buildings are lit up and really dramatic.

Next morning we set off for our City tour. The city is huge with electric buses and metro system as well as traffic issues on the road. Drivers seem polite and stop for pedestrians, mostly.

The city has quite a European impression apparently due to a few Polish architect during the Soviet era.

We discovered their underpasses are like museums with Marble and large photos of places in Azerbaijan. No grafitti and escalators at entrances and exits.

Azerbaijan, the nation and former Soviet republic, is bounded by the Caspian Sea and Caucasus Mountains, which span Asia and Europe. Its capital, Baku, is famed for its medieval walled Inner City. Within the Inner City lies the Palace of the Shirvanshahs, a royal retreat dating to the 15th century, and the centuries-old stone Maiden Tower, which dominates the city skyline. Azerbaijan means city of fire – related to the centuries old natural burning gas.

The esplanade around the bay is about 16 kilometres long and filled with parks and gardens and playgrounds with WIDE walking and scooter/ bike paths.

Azerbaijan is a Turkic nation and has close ties with Turkeiya

Azerbaijan is a secular, democratic country since the fall of the Soviet regime in 1991. It was the first country in the Eastern world that gave women the vote in 1919 during a brief period of independence before the Bolsheviks conquered them in 1921.

It promotes tolerance to all religions and the Russian Orthodox Church was renovated after the Soviet era by a Muslim philanthropist. In fact the government actually appoints the heads of each religious group. So not entirely democratic but perhaps it ensures no radicalism?

Originally the Zoroastrian a monotheistic religion dominated the country based around the purity of fire. However successive invasions of Islamic cultures resulted in conversions or the Zoroastrian’s going to India. The Silk Road passed through Azerbaijan and led to a mingling of cultures and trade. The fire was a pilgrimage point.

An intricate sculpture of a head was so absorbing as we walked around. It was of Aliagha Vahid, poet and Ghazai singer (1895-1965) who said he was the continuation of the great Fuzili( one of the greatest poets of Turkic literature). The tree was seen as a symbol of that continuation.

It was a bit of shock for us but we adapted.

Dinner tonight was a colourful array of delicious salads and dips followed by braised meat dishes. No desserts but tea and sweet jams or small petit fours.

John discovered that wine with dinner is not usual and though alcohol is available freely the custom is to have lemon drink or water then tea, particularly after dinner.