Land of Fire - Country of
Zoroaster
Tour
Duration 8 nights / 9 days
Regions:
Baku-Lenkoran-Guba-Shamakhy-Lagich-Absheron
1 Day
Meeting at the airport.
Accommodation at the hotel 4 * in the city
19:00. Excursion. "Lights of the Evening Baku".
Tour "Lights of Evening
Baku" begins with a visit to Mountain Park. It is here that the "City
of Winds", as Baku is often called, opens to you in all its glory. The
observation platform located on the highest part of the city, near the
"Burning Flame Tower" shows the city with all its bright lights
bordering Baku Bay reflecting the measured pace of life in the evening Baku.
Further, we continue our excursion to one of the favourite places of the walk
of the Baku guests of the city of all ages and social groups, a place where no
one is in a hurry in the evening - "Baku Boulevard". The national
park, sometimes called the "diamond necklace of Baku", stretches along Baku Bay for 16 km. At each time of
the day the boulevard has its charm - in the morning you can walk in silence,
feel unity with nature, go in for sports, during the day, especially on
weekends, the boulevard is fully revived thanks to the small inhabitants of the
capital, riding on attractions, rollerblades and bicycles, in the evening it
turns in the magical world of dreams for all lovers. In addition, the original
illumination and illumination of the park, fountains and other innovations give
our boulevard a special charm. At the end of our excursion "Lights of
Evening Baku», we will go to the most lively and central street of the city of
Nizami "Torgovaya street" as it is also called from the old times.
Trading is the longest of Baku's streets (its length reaches 3.5 km). It is
also called the most beautiful street in Baku - it has a large number of
architectural monuments, beautiful houses, cinemas, parks, many modern
boutiques and shops.
Transfer to the hotel and free time
Overnight at the hotel.
2 Day
09:00 Breakfast at the hotel.
Excursion.
"Baku City Tour".
The
tour begins with a visit to one of the modern and most recognizable places of
the "Heydar Aliyev Center". The center of Heydar Aliyev is a cultural
center, which is a complex building, which includes an auditorium (congress
center), a museum, exhibition halls, administrative offices. The famous
architect Zaha Hadid designed the project of the centre. Baku is a city that
combines modern and ancient, traditional and unusual. This applies to the
religions represented here and our next attraction is the church of the
"Holy Wives of the Myrrhbearers". In the Soviet period, the temple
was closed one of the first in 1920. First, there was a warehouse in it, and
then a gym. In the days of the January events of 1990, two shells hit the bell
tower of the temple, due to which it was partially destroyed, the floor sagged,
the walls cracked, and the roof collapsed. In 1991, the dilapidated building of
the church was transferred to the Russian Orthodox Church. On May 27, 2001, His
Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia made a great consecration
of the Holy Mother of God Church and conferred on him the status of a cathedral
of the diocese. After inspecting the temple, we are on our way to the Nagorny
Park. It is here that the "City of Winds", as Baku is often called,
opens to you in all its glory. The observation platform located on the highest
part of the city, near the sleeping "The Languages of Flame" shows
the city with all its beauties and greenery bordering Baku Bay. After viewing
the observation deck, we go down the stairs and head towards the "Bibi
Abyat Mosque". Bibi-Heybat Mosque (Azerbaijan's Bibiheybət məscidi)
is a mosque located on the shore of Baku Bay, in Azerbaijan. The existing
structure, built in the 1990s, is a reconstruction of the mosque of the same
name, built in the 13th century by Shirvanshah Abu-l-Fath Farrukhzad and
destroyed by the Bolsheviks in 1936, when a fierce struggle with religion was
going on throughout the territory of the USSR. The Bibi-Eybat complex, in
addition to the mosque, includes tombs and tombs of revered people (including
the grave of Ukeima Khanum, the descendant of the Prophet Muhammad), as before
destruction, and today is a spiritual center for Muslims of the East and one of
the significant monuments of Islamic architecture of Azerbaijan. The mosque was
once visited by Abaskuli-aga Bakikhanov, Alexander Dumas, Khurshudbanu Natavan.
The local population in the past called it "the mosque of Fatima".
Using the same name, described the mosque and visited it in the 40 years of the
XIX century, Alexander Dumas. At the end of the modern Baku tour we visit the
world's first oil well drilled in the Bibi-eibat oil-bearing region.
Visit
to the old town of Icheri Sheher
Very often Icheri Sheher is called a fortress, as a well-preserved fortress
wall surrounds it. People in the territory of Icheri Sheher lived in the Bronze
Age, and by the 8th-11th centuries, it was completely populated. Behind the
walls, there are many unique monuments: the palace complex of the Shirvanshahs
with a burial vault, a sofa, a mosque; "Gyz Galasy" ("The
Maiden's Tower"); mosques and minarets, the remains of caravanserais,
baths. Buildings of the old fortress are of a special nature. Because of the
lack of the territory of the building, the wall to the wall was erected here
from ancient times. There are no gardens, the yards are extremely small and
separated by "threads" of narrow streets, lanes and dead ends. When
the Shirvanshahs moved their capital from Shemakha to Baku in the 15th century,
massive buildings began in Icheri Sheher. During this period the pearl of the
fortress was
Built - the Palace of the
Shirvanshahs. It should be noted that Baku XVII-XIX centuries did not go beyond
the boundaries of Icheri Sheher. Here were located the palaces of the rulers,
and residential quarters. From 1747 to 1806, there was the capital of the Baku
Khanate. Only after the beginning of the oil boom, the city began to expand and
goes beyond the boundaries of Icheri Sheher.
The fortress wall itself is of interest. Once Baku had two of them, and they
were separated by moats, but at the beginning of the XIX century, the city grew
so fast that it was necessary to demolish and build the outer wall. Remained
only the inner wall. It has 25 towers and 5 gates. They say that back in the
30s. Twentieth century in the fortress there were more than 900 buildings, and
by the beginning of the XXI century only half remained.
Free time
Overnight at the hotel.
3 Day
09:00 Breakfast at the hotel.
Excursion. "Fire Lenkoran". Departure to Lankaran is an amazingly beautiful city-port on the shore of the Caspian Sea, practically on the border with Iran. One of the most ancient cities of Azerbaijan. The time of its foundation, however, is unknown. It is only certain that it was part of the Caucasian Albania, and in the 18th century it was the center of the Talish Khanate. During the Russian-Persian war, Lankaran was destroyed by the Persians, who built a fortress here. In 1813 Russian troops stormed Lankaran, after which the city became part of the Russian Empire. The city itself is interesting by the Lankaran fortress (XVIII century) and the Kichik-Bazar mosque (XIX century). In 100 km. north of Lenkoran lies one of the most beautiful cities of the Middle Ages - Hanega, in which fortified walls (XII-XIV centuries), the mosque and burial vault of Pir Hussein, the minaret and other ancient structures were preserved. Lenkoran fortress. The Lenkoran fortress (tower) was built in the 18th century. It was one of the main fortresses of the city in the Talish Khanate. In those days, according to eyewitnesses, the fortress did indeed strike a striking impression with its high stone walls, crowned with a series of battlements, because of which the menacing canals of guns looked everywhere. In addition, the fortress was surrounded by deep moats, which, if necessary, were filled with water. Traditionally, battles were fought from two tower fortifications - the northern and southern ones - located quite far apart.In 1812, as a result of a bloody battle and heavy losses on both sides, the fortress was taken by Russian troops. After the capture of the Lenkoran fortress, the Gulustan peace treaty was concluded between the parties. Previously, the fortress consisted of two bazaars: Big and Small. In the territory of each of the bazaars mosques were built in the beginning of the 20th century. These two mosques have turned into the main religious buildings of the city. They can be seen today.
The mosque and mausoleum of Pir-Hussein. The religious-cult complex of
Hanega included a mosque and the shrine of Pir-Hussein that joined it with a
minaret, built in 1256. The mosque is made up of well-hewn stone slabs, covered
with a spherical dome. Of particular artistic value is the mihrab, bordered
with exquisite carving on gyazhe, kufic inscriptions and ornamentation, made
with multi-colored tiles.
The
minaret of the mosque is a slender octagonal trunk, at the very top of which
there is a playground for muezzin.
Through
a small dark passage the mosque communicates with the shrine of Pir-Hussein,
lit by a window in one of the walls. The walls of the tomb, the tombstone in
its center and the archway of the passage were once covered with magnificent
ceramic lining containing images of eight-ray stars. The main decoration of the
shrine of Pir-Hussein of special value is a tile frieze 11 meters long. The
gilt-covered tiles of the frieze are painted in dark blue and
greenish-turquoise tones. These tiles are considered the best in the whole
Middle East.
This
place has long been considered a shrine that preserved the power of a holy
elder (Pir-Hussein). The authority of this holy place spread far beyond the
boundaries of Shirvan.
The
house of Miramhad Khan. Right in the center of the city is the Miramhad Khan House - one
of the most beautiful architectural monuments of Lankaran. The palace was built
in 1913. When building a house with skill, elements of national architecture
were used, and, despite the fact that it was built by French architects. This three-story
palace is considered to be the first multi-storey building that appeared in the
city. The north and west facades of the house were built of brick and white
stone, and the eastern and southern ones are only made of red brick. The top of
the entrance is decorated with figures of mythical animals.
Free
Time
Overnight
in Lenkoran
4 Day
09:00 Breakfast at the hotel.
Check out from the hotel transfer to Baku
Excursion.
Reserve of rock carvings Gobustan.
The reserve is located 60 km from Baku and is
located between the slope of the Great Caucasus Ridge and the Caspian Sea.
Gobustan is an open-air reserve reflecting the life and everyday life of
primitive people who lived here since the Mesolithic period until the Middle
Ages. A special place is occupied by ancient rock carvings pictograms and petro
glyph petro glyphs. These ancient monuments of art reflect the worldview,
economy, customs and traditions of ancient Azerbaijanis. Gobustan is
characterized by male and female images. Men in the drawings are depicted in a
hunting appearance with bows and arrows. They are tall, with slender bodies,
belted
Belts and muscular
muscles. On the pictures of the Reserve, you can see pictures of animals that
lived here during the last 10 thousand years - gazelles, wild goats, deer, wild
pigs, horses, lions, etc. On the rocks, there are also images of birds, fish,
snakes, lizards and various insects. Ancient rock carvings along with a variety
of topics abound in compositional scenes, reflecting in all the diversity of
various spheres of human activity. They were reflected in the Azerbaijani dance
of Yally, collective labor, hunting with various weapons, swimming on a
Tigris-type boat, reaping of animals, attack of predators on herbivores, etc.
Perhaps Yally was performed to the sound, published by the oldest musical
instrument "Gavaldash" (a stone with a deep resonating sound). Before
the start of the tour of Gobustan, we are waited by a visit to the museum of the
same name that was recently built and is distinguished by its high
technological level.
Excursion to Mud Volcanoes. After that you will also have a chance to visit quite a unique site where 300 of the planet's estimated 700 mud volcanoes sit Gobustan, Azerbaijan and the Caspian Sea. Many geologists as well as locals and international mud tourists trek to such places as the Firuz Crater Gobustan Salyan mud tourists trek to such places as the Firuz Crater, Gobustan, Salyan and end up happily covered in mud which is thought to have medicinal qualities. In 2001 one mud volcano 15 kilometers from Baku made world headlines when it suddenly started spewing flames 15 meters high.
Transfer to Baku
Overnight in hotel
5 Day
09:00
Breakfast at the hotel.
Excursion.
"Shemakha + Sheki".
Shamakhi is an ancient Azerbaijani city.
Originated in the 5th century. BC. e. In the IX-XVI centuries. - the capital of
the Shirvan kingdom, the residence of the Shirvanshahs is one of the most
beautiful cities of the East. From the middle of the XVIII century - the center
of Shemakhan khanate. For
a long time, Shemakha was one of the most important points throughout the Great
Silk Road. This is due to the fact that the city for a long time was one of the
centers of the Shirvan-Apheron architectural school and the school of
decorative and applied art (carpet making) and miniatures.Located at the
intersection of caravan routes, Shemakha was one of the major trade and craft
centers in the Middle East, occupying an important place in the trade in silk,
as early as the 16th century trade ties between Shemakha and Venetian merchants
were mentioned. In Shemakha, Azerbaijani, Iranian, Arab, Central Asian,
Russian, Indian and West European merchants were trading, who owned factories
there, had numerous silk-weaving, paper-spinning and carpet workshops. The city
became famous as the home of many prominent Azerbaijani philosophers,
architects and scientists, and poets such as Khagani, Nasimi,Sabir. Famous
sights of Shemakha. Diri-Baba.
Diri Baba is a unique monument, a two-story mosque-mausoleum of the 15th
century, located on the road from Baku to Shemakha in the village of Maraza
opposite the old cemetery. For a long time, local residents believed that this
place was buried and remained an imperishable saint named Diri-Baba. However,
this monument is associated with many legends and mystical details. Therefore,
since the 17th century, it began to attract many pilgrims and ordinary
travelers. The peculiarity of the structure is that the architect, as it were,
"built" the tomb in the rock, and it seems as if it is kept "on
weight", torn from the ground. The tomb admires the strictness of
architecture, the purity of the lines, and against the background of
irregularities of the dark rock the light and smooth surface of its walls,
standing out, seems solemn. Juma
mosque. This Azerbaijani mosque is the oldest and
largest in the Caucasus. According to legend, it was founded in the 8th
century, when Shemakha was chosen as a residence by the Arab caliph. The exact
date of its construction is 744, which was established as a result of research
conducted by the geological commission arrived from Tiflis, headed by Prince
Shakuli Kajar. This date was determined by the Arabic inscription on the facade
of the Juma mosque, which indicates the 126th year of the Muslim calendar as
the date of foundation. It was at this time that construction of new religious
buildings (mosques) began in the territory of modern Azerbaijan. The Juma
mosque in Shemakha is the earliest mosque in the Caucasus after the Derbent
Cathedral Friday Mosque, built in 734 yeddi
Gumbes. The mausoleum of Yeddi Gumbes or the "Seven
domes", the appearance of which dates back to the 15th century, is located
at the foot of the fortress of Gyulistan. This is the name of the Shirvan
rulers' tomb in Shamakhi. Here noble representatives from the Shirvanshah
dynasty are buried. Seven domes - that's how many tombstones are in the crypt.
At present, they represent dilapidated stone domes, as if grown directly from
under the earth in the middle of a deserted cemetery district. That's why the
very atmosphere of this place seems fabulously mysterious.
Lagich. Lahic is
a village named after the name of the lagic tribe that came here in the 4th -
5th centuries from the territory of Iran. This historical and architectural
monument was built in the 5th century on the territory of the canyon of the
river Girdimanchai. Old mosques and baths, medieval water supply and sewerage
system are preserved here.
Despite the fact that the village is declared a
historical and cultural reserve, the local population is still living here,
mainly engaged in handicrafts: the manufacture of elegant household items made
of copper (kazan, trays, jugs), leather, carpet weaving and agriculture. From
time immemorial, the Lahic tribe traded with its products, which became known
throughout the Middle East. And today in special workshops and souvenir shops
visiting tourists can buy a variety of handmade products: carpets, dishes,
daggers and much more.
Departure to Baku
Overnight in Baku
6 Day
09:00 Breakfast at the hotel.
Excursion.
"Glorious Guba Khanate".
Guba is one of the northern regions of Azerbaijan, due to its favourable location (168 km from Baku) and rich infrastructure, the Guba district is one of the favourite tourist destinations. Visitors have long taken a liking to the place of Gyachresh, where you can relax in the shady forest, Tengealty Gorge, where the Velvelichai River, the famous Afurdzha Falls, which is listed in the "Nature Monuments of Azerbaijan", carries stormy waters. In Guba there is also the famous village of Krasnaya Sloboda, in which one of the largest communities of Mountain Jews resides in the world. The famous Guba and its apples, which have long been transformed into its symbol. In addition, the Guba is a recognized center of carpet weaving. In the vicinity of Guba there are many architectural monuments. At one time, the famous French writer Alexander Dumas, the writer Bestuzhev-Marlinsky, the famous Norwegian travel scholar Thor Heyerdahl, visited Guba. And today Luba hospitably opens the doors for guests from all over the world.
Excursion to Khinaligh.
About an hour drive
along a new road from Quba is Khinalug, the oldest village in Azerbaijan. At
2,100-2,200 m (6,900-7,220 ft) above sea level, Khinalug has developed its own
culture and traditions, and even its own language. The villagers call the place
Kyat, and consider themselves to be direct descendants of the biblical Noah.
Khinalug is over 5,000 years old. For centuries, this village was cut off from
the rest of civilization by the tall mountains and dangerous rocky cliffs. Due
to the isolation, the villagers were able to preserve their own unique
language, which doesn’t belong to any other language family, as well as their
traditions and customs, found nowhere else. There are about 2,000 people living
in the village, divided into 4 families. Each family has its own graveyard and
its own patterns for carpets and clothing. Today, the people are Muslim, but
before they converted to Islam they were Zoroastrians. There are some temples
and semi-pagan traditions that have survived.
The first records of these people date back to the 1st century CE, in the writings of the historian Pliny and the famous Strabo’s Geography. The history of the village is also recorded in the 8 large graveyards, whose area is much larger than Khinalug itself. The graves, made in 3 and even 4 layers, bear inscriptions in different alphabets on their gravestones. The villagers of Khinalug build their houses one on top of the other. In general, they resemble a multi-story house, where the roof of one house is the courtyard for the one built above it. There are 360 stone houses in the village, each of which is about 200-300 years old. The windows are covered with a polyethylene film, and the ceilings are fitted with a smoke flap, through which the villagers can also talk to each other. The floors and walls are covered with colorful and warm carpets, sometimes woven by the women who live there. These carpets not only decorate the houses, but protect from the cold winter weather. The winters are cold and come early, and temperatures can drop to -30°C (-22°F). Bricks made of straw and manure are used as fuel in the winter. They not only burn well but also provide sufficient heat. Khinalug residents make these bricks all year long, and dry them wherever there is free space. Firewood is a luxury there, since the village is so high up that there are very few trees around.
The soil is generally rocky and barren, but locals manage to grow onions and potatoes in small plots, and cucumbers and tomatoes can be grown in planters, like houseplants. For animals, cows and goats are common, as well as poultry, but sheem are less common. Keeping sheep is difficult because then pens would need to be built to hold the sheep in the winter. The food is rather simple: vegetables, bread (called churek), milk, cheese, mountain honey, and dried goat meat (made each autumn).
The residents of
Khinalug are very religious. There are a lot of holy places not far from the
village, such as the graves of saints, caves, and unexplored archaeological
sites. Some of them were built as early as the Middle Ages. Dedicated explorers
can find the Hydyr Nebi Tomb, Sheikh Shalbuza Mosque, Abu Muslim Mosque (12th
century) and the Pirdzhomyard Mosque (1388). The local culture is preserved in
the Historical and Ethnographic Museum of Khinalug, where visitors can find
items used in traditional life and small exhibits about the history and customs
of the local villagers.
Free Time
Overnight in Baku
7 Day
09:00 Breakfast at the hotel.
Excursion
"Ethnographic Museum Gala".
Forty kilometres from Baku, there is Gala, the
well-known open-air historical and ethnographic museum. The museum, founded in
2008 at an archaeological site located in the same-name village, is dedicated
to the history of the Absheron Peninsula. There, you can see how the
Azerbaijani lived, what they ate and drank and how they managed a household
over the period from the XVI to XIX centuries. The territory of 1.2 ha hosts
old-time houses – portable tents made of animal skins, subsequently replaced by
stone and beaten cobworks with cupolas, an ancient blacksmith shop, market,
pottery, bakery, threshing mill and other interesting medieval buildings. You
can see, touch, and take picture of all of them. You can even try to bake bread
in a common oven, weave a carpet, muddy in pottery or feed camels, horses and
donkeys, peacefully resting in their stalls. Many monuments and
exhibits were brought to the Gala Museum from different corners of the Absheron
Peninsula; they were renovated or fully reconstructed. All together, they help
to get an idea of the life of the medieval people in Azerbaijan.
Free time
Overnight in hotel
Free time
Overnight in hotel
8 Day
09:00 Breakfast at the hotel.
Excursion.
"Fire worships Temple Ateshgyah + Burning Mountain Yanardagh".
The
Temple of Eternal Fire - Ateshgyah - is an authentic Azerbaijani exotic. It is
well-known practically all over the world. It is located 30 km from the center
of Baku in the suburb of Surakhany. This territory is known for such unique
natural phenomenon as burning natural gas outlets (underground gas coming onto
surface contacts oxygen and lights up). The temple in its present state was
constructed in the 17th-18th centuries. It was built by the Baku-based Hindu
community related to Sikhs. However,
the history of the Temple is even longer. From times immemorial this was the
holy place of Zoroastrians- fire worshippers (approximately beginning of our
era). They attributed mystical significance to the inextinguishable fire and
came there to worship the relic.
After
the introduction of Islam Zoroastrian temple was destroyed. Many Zoroastrians
left to India and there continued their worship. But in the 15th -17th
centuries the Hindus-fire worshippers who came to Absheron with trading
caravans began to make pilgrimages to Surakhany. The Indian merchants started
erection of the temple. The earliest temple part is dated 1713. The latest -
the central temple-altar was built with the support of merchant Kanchangar in
1810. During the 18th century chapels, cells, a caravanserai were added to the
central part of the temple. On у can find carved inscriptions in Indian
lettering there.
In the early 19th century the Temple acquired
its present-day appearance. Ateshgah is a pentagonal structure with a
castellation and entrance portal. In the center of a yard the altar-sanctuary
executed in the form of a stone bower on which angles some more centers are
located towers. In the center of an altar - a well from which beat
"eternally" burning gas.
Burning Mountain Yanardagh
One of the most famous and popular tourist
places of the "eternal flame” in Azerbaijan is the mountain of Yanar Dag.
Actually, it is rather a hill than a mountain, with natural gas burning on its
slope from ancient times. Meter-long tongues of fire are licking the stratified
earth approximately for 10 m in width, searing those who approached too close.
People occupy the benches to watch the blazing hill in the evening, when the
its sight is most effective.
Yanar Dag is located 25
km to the north from Baku, in Mehemmedi village. There are buses running to it
from the city, so you can get there fairly cheap and easy. From the year 2007
Yanar Dag is declared a state-protected conservation area.
Free Time
Overnight in hotel
9 Day
09:00 Breakfast at the hotel.
Free time to visit the eastern market, shops with sweets and souvenir shops.
Transfer to the airport
Visa upon arrival at international airports of Azerbaijan can be obtained only
by citizens of Turkey, Israel, Qatar, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait,
Japan, China, South Korea, Malaysia and Singapore. For citizens of Russia and
the CIS (except for Turkmenistan), a visa is not required to Azerbaijan.
Citizens of other countries must obtain a visa prior to arrival, through the
consulates of Azerbaijan in their country or to issue an electronic visa
through our travel agency. To apply for a visa, contact our managers at least 4
weeks before arriving in Azerbaijan.
Local currency: Manat
The recommended currency for the exchange is: USD or EURO.
Where to exchange currency: Upon arrival at the airport, the guide will provide
accurate information on where and how to exchange cash for local currency.
Availability of ATM: Only in large cities.
Accept credit cards: Only in large cities.
The cost of the tour from 999 USD per person for a stay in Double room
includes:
Accommodation in hotel 4 * double room on the program based on breakfast.
Transfers and transportation according to the program.
Excursions on the program.
Services of a Russian-speaking or English-speaking guide.
Entrance tickets to museums.
Additional paid:
Lunch - from 15 USD (soft drinks included)
Dinner - from 20 USD (soft drinks are included)
Supplement for single accommodation: $ 199 per tour
The cost of a visa is 40 USD (if not citizens of the CIS),
Charges for photo - and video shooting in museums
The firm reserves the right to change the
order of visiting excursion objects, keeping the program as a whole. The
company reserves the right to change the cost of the tour provided that it is
notified in time.
Dear guests, please send inquiries for individual tourists and tourist groups
to e-mail: narmintour@gmail.com
, zaurnasibli@gmail.com
and contact us at +99412 4926116, +99450
5968477 Whatsapp: +99450 5895997