The
ancient town of Shemakha is located at the foothills of the Big Caucasus
Mountains Chain. The general elevation of Shemakha is 800 meters over the
sea level.
One of the most ancient oriental trading
cities, it claims to be the city of Kmakhia mentioned by the ancient Greek
geographer Ptolomy in his book 'Geography'.
For
a long period Shemakha knew a very active commercial life, being one of
the basic points in the region the Silk Route was going through.
Once the capital of Shirvan, Shemakha attracted
not only invaders that plundered it but was nearly destroyed over the centuries
by repeated earthquakes (1902, 1872, 1859, 1828,1669 and 1667), the most
recent shook Shemakha on November 25th, 2000 causing some material damage
and a handfull of injured people.
In
spite of all the seismic activity, some ancient buildings have survived,
and are worth seeing. The Djuma Mosque, has been rebuilt several
times, but it dates back to the 10th century, making it one of the oldest
buildings still standing in the town and the oldest mosque in the Caucasus,
occupying the site of an ancient sun worshipers temple.
The
Seven
Cupolas (Eddi Gyumbez) Mausoleum is the burial place for members of
the royal families of the Shirvan shahs, for whom Shemakha was the capital
for several centuries. The half-ruined cupolas are located across the valley
from Shemakha and bear witness to the formidable earthquakes they had to
withstand. For further historical details try the History Museum
and the Sabir Museum.
On the hills just outside Shemakha you
can visit the derelict 11-th century Gulistan fortress (near Xinishli village).
High in the Pirgulu mountains, 13 km from Shemakha, 1.400m above
seal level, is located the Tusi astronomic observatory, built in the 1960s
named after the 13-th century Azeri astronomer, it has the biggest mirror
telescope in the CIS.
The
locals will recommend Pirgulu mountains as a good skiing spot, and
the topography is on their side, but there are no lifts, so all you can
do is cross-country skiing - scandinavian style!
The silk route is long gone, but if you
enjoy an exotic touch the Pirgulu area won't disappoint you: some of the
last camels left in Azerbaijan can be found there.
Mild climate of this temperate zone, rich
soil, abundant forests, alpine meadows are distinctive features of this
part of Azerbaijan. The population of this district works mostly in viticulture,
vine growing and wine making (Shemakha is famous for excellent wines
produced both in wineries and privately at homes), cultivation of fruit
and vegetables, cattle-breeding and carpet weaving. Visitors can tour carpet
factories and local vineyards (which produce sweet fortified wines).
The
wine tradition is quite old and the area even has its own pink grape variety,
Madrasa / Matrassa, indigenous to Madrasa, a village in Shamakha
rayon. These grapes are used for excellent dry red wines, such as "Giz
Galasi", "Yeddi Gozal", "Naznazi" and "Gara Gila". Local legend claims
that the first french vines came from Shemakha! In fact the wine produced
along the western Caucasus came a long way. As early as the late 15th century
wines from this area were bought by some of the more demanding wine connoisseurs
in western Europe: the Portuguese. Scores of traders, soldiers, priests
and adventurers followed Portuguese expansion in Asia, creating a local
market for the caucasian wines.
If
you want to stay in Shemakha, the hotel is the tallest building
in town, with 10 floors. Very likely the quality of the accommodation will
make you try to enjoy the scenic qualities of the view instead of the room
itself. If you don't mind staying outside town try the cabins at Fortuna
resort, in the Pirgulu settlement is situated above Shemakhah, a mere
100m from the Tusi astronomic observatory. The road from Shamakhi to Pirgulu
is asphalted and is open most of the year.
(130 km west of Baku) |