ZJuzer writes: asketic-travel
About five years ago I accidentally ended up at Illusion to watch a Turkish film, the name of which I no longer remember. What stuck in my memory the most is winter views provincial Turkish village where the action took place. The Middle East suddenly appeared before me not bright and serenely cheerful, but everyday, gloomy, chilled. There was some kind of revelation in this, as happens at a party, when everyone has gone away, but the host invited you to stay, and you no longer see the external gloss of the holiday, but the internal way of the family, real life. Since then I really wanted to see something like this with my own eyes.

The opportunity to realize this little dream presented itself as unexpectedly as the sale of Aeroflot tickets to Azerbaijan. Having left the Caspian Sea coast from chilly and windy Baku inland, to Sheki, I decided to get to the mountain village of Kish, famous for its ancient Albanian church. And this is what came out of it.

The search for a Russian-speaking aborigine in sleepy Sunday Sheki led me to a short, dry aksakal who stood in front of me and wrinkled his forehead tensely.
- How? Quiche? I don't know this one...
“The Albanian church should be there,” I said.
- A-ah-ah! Wow! - the old man was happy. - Kshch! Kshshch - it's over there, you need a minibus.

With its chains rattling, the minibus, but in fact an old GAZ bus, crawled out along the packed snow road and, groaning and sneezing, rolled into the mountains. On the way, I saw a minibus lying in a ditch, convincingly refuting the tourist myth that locals in their cars never fly off the road under any circumstances - they are so nimble. They're still flying out. While I was in Azerbaijan, news was constantly circulating on the local Internet about such flights on slippery and very dangerous mountain roads.

The journey did not last long; after just twenty minutes, the car with a hysterical roar reached final stop- a small area on the mountainside. A couple of shops and a slippery path leading up. The rest was hidden in a light haze.


As I walked up the path, I saw around me exactly what I was going to see, and a joyful anticipation filled me.


In the photo it looks like there is smoke coming from the right. Before my eyes, a fog did not descend on the village, as happens in cities, but a fog crept in, as happens in the mountains. Just a minute passed, and visibility was reduced to hundreds of meters.

In such conditions, it was out of the question to see the church from afar, as travelers who have already visited Kish write. But the church was not my only goal and I simply delved into the labyrinth of confusing village streets and wandered through them until I came across Alik. Alik - local. About forty, thin, short, wearing training pants, a sheepskin coat and a cap. Of course, Alik’s brother works at the market two steps from my house in Moscow. First, Alik offered to come over for tea (I ask from the bottom of my heart), then he walked me to the church, because in my wanderings I had gone to the opposite end of the village.

Probably the last thing you expected was to meet Thor Heyerdahl here! Nevertheless, this is exactly him, a great friend of the Azerbaijani people. Having examined the monuments of Caucasian Albania, Thor Heyerdahl put forward a bold theory that the Norwegians are descendants of the Caucasian Albanians. Azerbaijanis are very flattered by this theory, because it is nice to have such a nice and prosperous people as the Norwegians as younger brothers.

Thor Heyerdahl visited Azerbaijan and Kish itself and participated in supporting the restoration of the church, the completion of which he did not live long enough to see.

Here is the church itself. Her appearance has been the subject of intense controversy since it underwent extensive restoration a few years ago. Many argue that due to the excessive zeal of the restorers, the historical appearance of the church and the original finishing details were destroyed. It is difficult for me to judge this; I can only provide a link to a photograph showing the appearance of the church before restoration.

Pay attention to the transparent canopies at the bottom of the picture and under the southern wall of the temple. Beneath them lie the bones of the ancestors of modern Azerbaijanis, Caucasian Albanians. This, in a way, is also a surprise: to dig up the bones of our ancestors and leave them lying open to all the winds - somehow this seemed to me not like us, not like the Caucasians.

Previously, it seemed to me that such fun with bones was characteristic primarily of Catholics: the Parisian catacombs, the army of Palermo mummies led by the charming little Rosalia Lombardo, Czech and Polish ossuaries... However, a couple of years ago in Murom I had a chance to visit the ossuary of the Spaso-Preobrazhensky Monastery , and now in the Caucasus I came across this strange decoration.

Cozily curled up, a Caucasian Albanian smiles benevolently from a stone bag at the entrance to the church. All the Azerbaijanis with whom I had to communicate on this trip reported to me in detail that, firstly, all (all!) Caucasian Albanians were two meters twenty centimeters tall, and secondly, they were blue-eyed blonds. Both remarks are quite remarkable.

As for height, Caucasians like to decorate their stories with “absolutely accurate” figures, such as the height of Albanians, the speed that a month ago the son of a local oligarch achieved in his BMW before crashing into a pillar, the amount that the oligarch dad paid for this BMW , the weight of the giant record-breaking flag fluttering over Baku, etc. All these bright and stupid figures are carefully stored in the people's memory, passed from mouth to mouth with impeccable accuracy and are never questioned. Let it be obvious that the entire nation could not have a height of 2.20 m - it doesn’t matter, it says 2.20, it means 2.20. And don't argue.

It’s also interesting about blondes. The point is not whether the Albanians were blondes or not (apparently they were), but the pride with which Azerbaijanis talk about the anthropometric perfection of their ancestors (and many other Caucasians too). I used to think that local beauty standards should be determined by the type of appearance that prevails in a given area at a given stage in history. That is, if everyone is small and narrow-eyed (dark-haired and hook-nosed or black and curly-haired), then the local perception of beauty is formed within the framework of this particular type.

But no. Every now and then I heard dramatic confessions from the Chinese, Thais, Arabs, Turks, many representatives of the indigenous peoples of Russia, and Central Asian Turks on the topic of how imperfect they are in comparison with European people. This idea was most succinctly expressed by one bilious Turk, whom I met on a November trip. Once at dinner, as usual, he said gloomily, looking at his wife sitting next to him: “My wife is a freak... Yes, I’m a freak myself. Strictly speaking, we Turks are all freaks.”

But the Azerbaijanis were lucky: their ancestors were blue-eyed, blond, two-twenty tall.

However, let's return to the purpose of the trip. Here is the interior view of the church. Now there is something like a museum here. The museum, frankly speaking, is very poor, you can’t even call it an exhibition; rather, it is illustrative material on the topic of Caucasian Albania. Disputes regarding the damage caused by the restoration also affect the interior of the church, which is said to have also been badly damaged.

When I went outside, I saw that the fog had almost cleared, and the slopes of the mountains became visible again.

A typical gate with a small door.


The young man squatted down in the middle of the street for a reason. He dragged a huge log onto a high hill, which would later be sawn and go into the oven. But the journey was not yet completed, and the young man sat down to rest before dragging the log further along the street, then fifty meters down, then to the side, and then onto another high icy hillock. I just followed in his footsteps, it turned out that it was not an easy path. Still, patriarchal life in the fresh mountain air has its drawbacks.

A solid village fence has little in common with the usual dacha picket fence.



Those who have read Leonid Solovyov’s outstanding book “The Tale of Khoja Nasreddin” remember the characteristic character described in “The Enchanted Prince”: the water distributor. The most honest and careful peasant was appointed as the distributor of water from the village ditch, who made sure that everyone got a fair amount of precious moisture from the Bai spring. Now this process, thank God, is somewhat automated.



An interesting school poster: the poster, judging by Heydar Aliyev’s signature, is relatively new, but the school uniform is still Soviet-style.



My walk is coming to an end. I walked out onto the path leading back to bus stop. On the opposite slope there is a wide village cemetery.

There is already a mashturk downstairs, it comes from the Sheki market, and someone brought fresh food, and someone brought fresh news.

An old tradition of building public water sources in a modern design. In the upper right corner is a commemorative granite slab with engraved text.

Well, right at the stop, the last vivid impression from Kish is the men's salon. It is here that the beauties of Kishi get their hair done in the latest Kishi fashion.

How to get there
From the northern part of Sheki to Kish there are minibuses No. 15 (on besh) and No. 23 (yirmi uch). Travel time is 15-20 minutes, traffic interval is also 20-25 minutes. The fare costs 20 gapiks (about 8 rubles). IN good weather the church, they say, is visible from the road. In bad weather, you can follow the signs or ask the locals about the Albanian church - Alban Mabedi. Entrance to the church is 2 manats (about 75 rubles), filming is the same.

Day eight. Transfer to Sheki and presidential motorcade.

It didn't rain anymore in the morning. We decided to take the chance and finally evacuate from Ismailly, especially since the only attractions in the city were the Luks Market store, our roadside Talistan motel and the Druzhba cafe.

At the bus stop, the taxi drivers, of course, said that buses and minibuses would arrive only after lunch. But the minibuses started earlier. True, as they scared us, our trip to Azerbaijan coincided with a tour of the country by the Azerbaijani president and the Turkish prime minister. So at first we sat at the bus station in Gebel for half an hour and watched from the front rows of the stalls as the presidential motorcade of three dozen cars rushed past. Then we stood in a crowd of cars on a blocked road in front of the city of Oguz, and after the driver decided to exchange many hours of standing for driving through fields and broken-down old road, we stood in front of the entrance sign for another 3 hours Seki .

But we became acquainted and became friends with the entire minibus, and also expanded our Azerbaijani vocabulary. The wonderful people in Azerbaijan are sincere and open. And every ride in a minibus with local residents is a wonderful experience and unforgettable communication.

In addition to two wonderful young people who knew nothing in Russian except “da-da-da”, but actively helped us learn Azerbaijani, as well as a young mother who fed us a cutlet sandwich, and her charming nine-year-old daughter, who already knew a few words in English, two Russian men were traveling in a minibus, working in construction in Gebel cable car. After a couple of hours of getting to know each other, the guys bought vodka at the entrance to Sheki and, in a very friendly way, offered to share a bottle with them. The passengers around us were shocked by such Russian flavor. And we hastened to refuse such a tempting offer.

When the members of the presidential delegation enjoyed the sights of Sheki and moved towards Baku, the road was finally opened, and at 6 o’clock in the evening, 8 hours after starting from neighboring Ismayilli, we finally arrived at the very romantic city Azerbaijan.

In an old Soviet nine-story hotel on main square, which LP described as something terrible and “only for masochists,” the administrator offered us a room for 50 and, seeing the shock on our faces, dropped to 40 manat. We weren’t going to stay there anyway, but if they offered us a room, for example, for 15 manats, we might have thought about it.

The shock was all the stronger when we, having walked through the central street of the old city, licked for tourists, came to the ancient Caravanserai and found a spacious two-room apartment in an ancient building for only 36 manats. With 24/7 hot water with good pressure toilet paper, soap and wi-fi. After all the houses we lived in for the last week, this was a real palace!!!

For dinner we went to the center of Sheki, where good restaurant we tasted the traditional Sheki dish Piti (stewed lamb with peas in a pot, eaten by first draining the broth and eating it with pieces of lavash soaked in the broth, and then by kneading the thick contents of the pot with a fork and eating it). The broth was okay, but the grounds were somehow unimpressive. The decanter of the house wine I ordered was simply terrible. We tried to console ourselves with the thought that such a strange taste was the result of making wine not from grapes, but, for example, from plums. But the waiter denied our guesses. The wine must have been fermented or spoiled. Just 3 years ago.

At the hotel, enjoying the benefits of civilization in the form of wi-fi, sitting under the massive arched passages overlooking the beautiful courtyard and starry sky, we ran into a strange dude whom we had seen before in a traffic jam at the entrance to Sheki. “A narcissistic idiot,” as he described himself, made us laugh all evening with his unrealistic egocentrism.

Day nine. Sheki and Kish.

In the morning, while the girls were getting enough sleep after abusing Ivanovka, I went to the fortress and the Khan's palace. Behind the fortress wall there are a couple of museums, an ancient Albanian church, which now also houses a museum and, in fact, the palace itself. Inside it are several beautiful and completely frescoed rooms with multi-colored stained glass windows. It’s a pity that you can’t look without a guide, and you can’t take photographs even for a fee. But it's beautiful, yes.

Then I walked through the old city in the morning, past ancient minarets and intricate houses built of stone, under ripening pomegranates and apricots. In the old center and away from the tourist street, the people are good: simple and friendly. Although in general it feels like the city is slightly spoiled by tourism. True, with good reason - the cobbled streets, ancient houses and mosques are beautiful, and the completely forested mountains surrounding the city give it an idyllic appearance.

Then we had breakfast together in the restaurant of our hotel, located in the middle of a green garden, and took a crowded minibus to the neighboring village Kis, famous for the ancient Albanian church - once upon a time, Caucasian Albanians, being Christians, inhabited the entire north of Azerbaijan. For some reason, there were only women in the minibus; there weren’t enough seats for us, and we had to stand for about 20 minutes, bent over and resting our heads on each other’s shoulders.

An elderly woman sat next to us and spoke to us in Russian. She talked about her life. She had a Russian mother and an Azerbaijani father. The mother did not like it in Azerbaijan, and she, having kidnapped all three children, returned to Russia. The father married a second time, but the couple had no children, and after the death of the mother, he “stole” his children back. So the half-Russian Galina Ivanovna, who received a more authentic name after returning to Azerbaijan, lived her whole life in Azerbaijan, which, according to her, she does not like. People's lives are very different...

Kish turned out to be a quiet village surrounded by green mountains. And the Albanian church is beautiful and laconic.

The driver of the return minibus was keenly interested in whether we liked Azerbaijan, asked if we wanted to stay longer, and in response to the answer “we would like to,” he said simply: “Well, then stay!” Then he invited us to visit, said that his wife would take care of us, and on the way out he refused to take money from us for travel.

At the market we bought pears and pomegranates and found a cafe, from which we were taken to the next “office” - a garage-type room with a long table the entire length of the “office” and a dozen chairs. We were fed homemade dumplings with broth, pickles, pita bread and tea. It cost a ridiculous amount of money, and everyone was terribly nice and friendly.

The rest of the day was spent walking through Old city Sheki, through the fortress and drinking in the courtyard of our beautiful Ivanovka Caravanserai in the company of Lviv backpacker Pasha. We haven’t met a single backpacker in a week, but beautiful Sheki attracts them like a magnet - on the very first day we saw as many as 5 people with backpacks on the city streets! What an unrealistic minuscule this is compared to neighboring Georgia, flooded with tourists of any budget.

Then, after filming and dinner, our old acquaintances returned to the hotel - the Azerbaijani part of Gerard Depardieu’s film crew, whom we met 5 days ago in Cuba. They arrived in Sheki in the morning, and we met at the reception at the time of their check-in. Everyone was happy with each other. True, Gerard did not like the ancient interior decoration of the Caravanserai, and he and his French retinue settled in the 4-star Seki Saray hotel, so he did not have a chance to see him again. But the rest of the evening was spent in the cultural society of Azerbaijani filmmakers with local drinks. Ivanovka ended that evening in all surrounding stores.

The church in the village of Kish is a Christian church, X-XII centuries in the village of Kish, 5 km north of the city of Sheki in the territory of modern Azerbaijan.

According to the Armenian historian Movses Kagankatvatsi, in the 1st century AD. e. Saint Elisha, a disciple of the Apostle Thaddeus, arrived in a place called Gis, where he built a church and preached Christianity. The church soon became “the spiritual center and place of enlightenment for the people of the East.” Near the place of Ghis, Saint Elisha was killed by unknown assailants near a pagan altar.

According to modern Armenian historian Samvel Karapetyan, geographical position Kisha does not match the description of Kagankatvatsi. S. Karapetyan believes that Ghis should be identified with the village of Bum in the Gabala region of Azerbaijan. According to the Georgian chronicler, in the 10th century the population of Kish accepted Georgian Orthodoxy and built this church. The Church of the Holy Mother of God was turned into the residence of the Georgian bishop, functioning until the 17th century.

By the time the Russians arrived in the Caucasus, Kish was one of the villages whose population continued to recognize themselves as Udins. According to Robert Husen, it appears that the Odin language was dominant in the region until the 19th century, and the Armenian population is a relatively recent addition. Although many Armenians settled here after fleeing the Turkic-Mongol invasions, many more Armenians moved into the region after the Russians arrived in early XIX century.

In 2000-2003, the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs financed a joint project between the Azerbaijan University of Civil Engineering and Architecture and the Norwegian Humanitarian Enterprise for archaeological research and restoration of the church in Kish. The excavation director was Dr. Vilayat Kerimov of the University of Baku, and the archaeological advisor was J. Bjernar Sturfiel, director of the Thor Heyerdahl Research Center in Aylesbury, England. Radiocarbon dating of various objects found at the work site showed that the cult site discovered under the altar of the church dates back to approximately 3000 BC. BC, while the existing church building was erected around the 12th century (990-1160 AD).

The existing church building cannot be dated to the time of St. Elisha, but archaeological finds indicate that the church is located on grounds that have been used for religious rites since ancient times. It is unlikely that Saint Elisha built a church in the modern sense of the word. If such a historical figure really existed, then he most likely erected only an altar or used an existing pagan structure.

Bjernar Sturfiel told Azerbaijan International magazine that there is clear evidence that this church was built as a Dyophysite church. Excavations have shown that the church retains traces of two periods of use, with two different corresponding floor levels. According to Sturfiel, the apse architecture of the original church building indicates a Dyophysite Christology, and since the Georgian Orthodox Church was the only Dyophysite church in the Caucasus during the late medieval period, it is reasonable to assume that the church was originally built as a Georgian church and was later occupied by Monophysites. Researcher Bernard Storfel notes that Farida Mamedova’s opinion that the church in the village of Kish was founded at the end of the 1st century AD. e. is not worthy of scientific attention, is not confirmed by archaeology, and the earliest church buildings in the world date back only to the 3rd century.

About five years ago I accidentally ended up at Illusion to watch a Turkish film, the name of which I no longer remember. What stuck in my memory most were the winter views of the provincial Turkish village where the action took place. The Middle East suddenly appeared before me not bright and serenely cheerful, but everyday, gloomy, chilled. There was some kind of revelation in this, as happens at a party, when everyone has gone away, but the host invited you to stay, and you no longer see the external gloss of the holiday, but the internal way of the family, real life. Since then I really wanted to see something like this with my own eyes.

The opportunity to realize this little dream presented itself as unexpectedly as the sale of Aeroflot tickets to Azerbaijan. Having left the Caspian Sea coast from chilly and windy Baku inland, to Sheki, I decided to get to the mountain village of Kish, famous for its ancient Albanian church. And this is what came out of it.

The search for a Russian-speaking aborigine in sleepy Sunday Sheki led me to a short, dry aksakal who stood in front of me and wrinkled his forehead tensely.
- How? Quiche? I don't know this one...
“The Albanian church should be there,” I said.
- A-ah-ah! Wow! - the old man was happy. - Kshch! Kshshch - it's over there, you need a minibus.

Rattling with chains, the minibus, but in fact an old GAZ bus, crawled along the packed snow road from Sheki and, groaning and sneezing, rolled into the mountains. On the way, I saw a minibus lying in a ditch, convincingly refuting the tourist myth that locals in their cars never fly off the road under any circumstances - they are so nimble. They're still flying out. While I was in Azerbaijan, news was constantly circulating on the local Internet about such flights on slippery and very dangerous mountain roads.

The journey did not last long; after just twenty minutes, the car, with a hysterical roar, reached the final stop - a small platform on the mountainside. A couple of shops and a slippery path leading up. The rest was hidden in a light haze.


As I walked up the path, I saw around me exactly what I was going to see, and a joyful anticipation filled me.

Pay attention to the transparent canopies at the bottom of the picture and under the southern wall of the temple. Beneath them lie the bones of the ancestors of modern Azerbaijanis, Caucasian Albanians. This, in a way, is also a surprise: to dig up the bones of our ancestors and leave them lying open to all the winds - somehow this seemed to me not like us, not like the Caucasians.

Those who have read Leonid Solovyov’s outstanding book “The Tale of Khoja Nasreddin” remember the characteristic character described in “The Enchanted Prince”: the water distributor. The most honest and careful peasant was appointed as the distributor of water from the village ditch, who made sure that everyone got a fair amount of precious moisture from the Bai spring. Now this process, thank God, is somewhat automated.

Well, right at the stop, the last vivid impression from Kish is the men's salon. It is here that the beauties of Kishi get their hair done in the latest Kishi fashion.

How to get there
From the northern part of Sheki to Kish there are minibuses No. 15 (on besh) and No. 23 (yirmi uch). Travel time is 15-20 minutes, traffic interval is also 20-25 minutes. The fare costs 20 gapiks (about 8 rubles). In good weather, the church is said to be visible from the road. In bad weather, you can follow the signs or ask the locals about the Albanian church - Alban Mabedi. Entrance to the church is 2 manats (about 75 rubles), filming is the same.

Tourist paradise
All those who have visited Sheki want only one thing - to visit these places again

Ainur Talibova
Baku

Sheki residents do not respond to compliments about the beauty of these places. Are you used to it? Everyone likes Sheki. Everyone admires him and almost everyone praises him. Sheki is a real tourist paradise, the center of tourism in the northwestern region of Azerbaijan. And today this is the most popular place where almost the entire flow of foreign guests visiting Azerbaijan goes.

Lovers of outdoor recreation are well acquainted with this place. Marhal is considered the most popular place recreation. Very quickly gaining fame in the 1980s, Marhal has become a must-visit destination for both locals and visitors. In summer, residents of Sheki and surrounding areas come here in search of coolness. IN last years catamarans also appeared on the man-made lake located here. A kind of entertainment.
Marhal is beautiful at all times of the year. Even if you don’t plan to spend the night here, you should at least breathe in the heady air of these places and enjoy the enchanting landscape. Not far away - just 7 kilometers - is another miracle of Sheki - the Khan mountain plateau, where you can continue your journey.

Khan Mountain Plateau

As the name suggests, this is the place where the residence of the Sheki khans was located. They say that with the onset of heat, the Sheki Khan moved to this plateau with his family, servants, and pets and remained there until the cold weather began. According to stories, a glass canal was even laid from there, through which milk was delivered to the Khan’s palace.
The plateau is located at a very high altitude and that's why trees don't grow here. But the air is saturated with the heady aroma of mountain flowers, especially thyme. In clear, sunny weather, the surrounding areas are clearly visible from here. When going to the Khan Plateau, beware of the wolfhounds that guard the flocks. Better go to the shepherd - he will protect you from dogs, treat you to bread and cheese, and pour you aromatic chab-retz tea brewed right on the fire. Those who wish can take food and a tent with them and spend the night here.

In just a few minutes spent here, you realize what hectic city life deprives us of. Only after deeply breathing in the pure mountain air and seeing the blush on the shepherd’s cheeks do you understand the wisdom of the Sheki khan who chose this paradise place of rest.
The Khan plateau is located 15-20 km north of Sheki. It is better to get to these places with pristine nature by horse or jeep. The only road on the Khan Plateau passes through Marhal, where the issue of transport can be resolved. It doesn't matter if you don't have your own car. A local guide will provide you with a safe ride to the steep forest. And while traveling in his car you can watch unique landscape, see squirrels, other forest animals and, if you're lucky, even a frightened bear cub. This exciting trip will give you true pleasure and unforgettable experience. Worth a try.
Guides recommend climbing the Khan Plateau in summer months when there is relatively little precipitation. The mudflow that forms after rain sweeps away everything in its path - bushes, trees and even large boulders. Neither walk nor drive until a tractor arrives and clears the road. Sheki residents hope that the situation will change and these places will become even more attractive for tourists if a cable car or a funicular is built from Marhal to the Khan Plateau. Although extreme sports enthusiasts are quite satisfied with mountain trails.
The adventure does not end with a trip to Marhal and the Khan Plateau. After all, on the way back we will have another trip that increases the level of adrenaline in the blood and which it would be a sin not to take. But more on that later. And now about another attraction that you should definitely visit.

"Place of Mustafa Bey"

Sheki residents also call this place “Mustafa Bey’s camp.” Who is he? Everyone asks this question. One of the family of Sheki khans at the beginning of the twentieth century. At that time, this area was his personal property, where he vacationed with his family in the summer months. After Bolshevisation in 1920, a pioneer camp famous throughout the Soviet Union operated here for many years. Now it is a private recreation center. Compared to other similar places in Sheki, this place is very low prices: only 6-8 manats per person, including breakfast. A real find if you want to get away from the city noise, breathe clean air and enjoy the beauty of the dense forest.
The Gyulkhali quarter, where the “place of Mustafa Bey” is located, is the point where the foundation of Sheki began. This quarter is also famous for other places of interest - here is the house in which the founder of drama in the East, writer, poet and playwright Mirza Fatali Akhundov (1812-1877), and the 15th century monument Gyulkhali Mosque, from which now only the minaret remains.
It is impossible to get around Sheki in one day. Those who want to have a good rest and explore the city should spend 3-4 days on this. Where to stay? The choice is quite wide. You can stay in hotels scattered throughout the city and its surroundings, and in modernist cottages, and in the houses of local residents who are ready to provide services to tourists heading to Köchne Gala. Tourists can also use the Caravanserai Hotel, where you will enjoy a real botanical environment. This ancient hotel was made available to guests coming to Sheki after restoration work was carried out in 2002. It is designed for 75 people, but in the summer it is very difficult to find a free place here, unless you reserve it in advance.

Horse breeding and hunting

How else can you spend time in Sheki? Horse and sports lovers can witness traditional horse racing as well as horse games. The Sheki Horse Breeding Center houses and raises horses of various breeds. You can enjoy their beauty and even ride them.
Sheki is also one of the largest hunting bases in Azerbaijan. Those who like to hunt here can contact the Hunters Club, which has permission from the Ministry of Ecology and natural resources Azerbaijan. By registering, you can hunt some animals - wild boar, aurochs and others, the list of which is established by the same ministry.

Historical monuments

In the 1st century, Sheki was one of the largest cities in Caucasian Albania. The name Sheki was one of the eleven administrative units of the Albanian state, located in the north-west. This is confirmed by numerous historical and cultural monuments related to Caucasian Albania.

Caravanserais

On the banks of the Gyurjanchay River flowing right in the middle of Sheki, the main shopping and business centers of the city are located. There are many bazaars and caravanserais in Sheki, because... Since ancient times it has been a city of crafts and trade.
Caravanserais are buildings common in the feudal East. Every traveler who has visited Sheki pays special attention to them. In the Middle Ages they played a big role in the formation and development of this city.
In the XVIII-XIX centuries. in Sheki there were five large caravanserais - Isfahan, Tabriz, Lezgin, Armenian and Teze (New), in which merchants arriving from distant countries stayed. The safety of their cargo was also ensured here. Merchants placed their goods in basements, traded on the first floor, and lived on the second floor.
Only two caravanserais have survived to this day, which date back to the 18th century and are known under the names Ashagi (Lower) and Yukhary (Upper) caravanserais. They were erected by local craftsmen. Nowadays the Yukhara caravanserai is used as a hotel. The dome located at its entrance is considered one of the largest in the Middle East.
The “House of Tea” in this caravanserai is perfect in terms of the tea service accepted in Azerbaijan. Sheki halva, famous Sheki sweets, various jams and lemon, which helps regulate blood pressure after eating a large number of sweet foods, are served with tea in “armudu” glasses. Add here the waiters who speak English with a Sheki accent, and you can easily imagine the full flavor of the situation.

Albanian temple Kish

Albanian Temple of Kish included in the list world monuments UNESCO. This temple, located in the village of Kish, Sheki region of Azerbaijan, dates back to the 1st-5th centuries. and is considered one of the earliest temples in Transcaucasia. Kish is an ancient village located 6-7 km from Sheki on the banks of the river of the same name.
This temple is visited by almost all local and foreign guests arriving in Sheki. Don’t be discouraged by the closed doors of the local museum - its caretaker is a local resident who has irregular working hours. You can knock on his door at any time and ask him to open the doors of the museum.
According to our guide Nasib Mukhtarov, in each of the villages scattered on the mountain slopes you can see monuments dating back to the early Middle Ages. Let's take a look at some of them.

Bideish Temple

It is located in a mountainous area 8-10 km from the village of Bideish. Built from hewn large square stones, the temple is surrounded by greenery. In terms of architectural style, it dates back approximately to the 7th-8th centuries.
The area where the Bideish temple is located is indescribably beautiful. The temple stands in a clearing surrounded by forests and mountains. Our guide says that during the excavations carried out here, huge clay jugs were found underground. There is a lot of work ahead to study the history of this temple and the territory on which it is located.

Village Fazyl

During the studies carried out in the 90s of the last century and lasting for several years archaeological excavations In the village of Fazyl, the Tepebashi necropolis dating back to the ancient period was discovered. Scientists have found evidence of human habitation here back in the Bronze Age - in the 3rd millennium BC. The finds indicate ancient rituals, reminiscent of the rites of shamans.
The electricity supply to the village was interrupted, and we went down into the labyrinth-like mound with candles in our hands. Despite the hot summer weather, it is icy cold inside. There are large and small bones of people and animals everywhere. Just like in horror films.
The Tepebashi necropolis, where the burial mounds are completely preserved, is the first labyrinth museum in Azerbaijan.

Fortress "Gelersen - gerersen"

It is located on a steep rock at the top of Mount Garatepe on the western bank of the Kish River, 8 km from Sheki. This strategically important fortress was founded in the 15th century by the ruler of Sheki Alijan. Subsequently, or more precisely during the reign of Haji Chelebi Khan (1739-1775), this fortress played a very important role in the history of the entire region.
Haji Chelebi Khan - founder of the first independent Sheki Khanate, a prominent statesman of Azerbaijan in the 18th century. This is a man of whom the people of Sheki are proud. Haji Chelebi Khan was one of the leaders of the people's liberation war against the Iranian Shah Nadir. Having executed the governor of Nadir Shah, Melik Najafgulu, in 1743, he proclaimed Sheki an independent state and refused to obey the Shah.
In response to Shah Nadir Chelebi's ultimatum, Khan replied: “Gelersen - görer-sen” (literally: “You will come and you will see”), gathered elders, prominent people of the city, their families and took refuge in a high-mountain fortress near the village of Kish. They say that it was after this that the fortress began to be called “Gelersen-gerersen”.
The path to the fortress, although not long, is grueling. You realize that you are at a strategic point on a steep cliff only after you, out of breath, reach the very top. The fortress offers an amazing view of the surrounding area.
Only here do you realize what Haji Chelebi hoped for when he spoke out against the powerful Nadir Shah. Twice, in 1744 and 1745, Nadir's brother Ibrahim Khan went with an army of 20 thousand to suppress the rebellion in Sheki, but both times he was unable to capture this fortress. Although two years later Haji Chelebi voluntarily left the fortress and stopped fighting, they say that he did so, realizing the futility of further resistance. Amazed by Haji Celebi's fortitude, Nadir Shah left him the title Sheki Khan. Since then, the saying “Haji Chelebi was a great man” has appeared.
Today, the Gelersen-Görersen fortress warmly welcomes everyone who comes here to get acquainted with local attractions and simply relax their souls. So the name of the fortress “When you come, you will see” still retains its relevance, but in a completely different sense. In a word, Sheki is a true find for lovers of historical excursions. Everyone leaving these places wants one thing in their hearts - to visit Sheki again!