Baku
Full of rare trees, cafes, fountains and fairground rides, the central sweep of Baku's seafront park is eternally popular with families, amateur musicians and courting couples.
Striking modernist buildings here include the International Muğam Centre, the Baku Business Center and the four-storey Park Bulvar Mall. Crossing the main road to reach the promenade area can be awkward but there's a handy underpass in front of the photogenic old Puppet Theatre,
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Vast and jaw-droppingly original, this Zaha Hadid building is a majestic statement of fluid 21st-century architecture forming abstract waves and peaks…
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This tapering 29m stone tower is Baku’s foremost historical icon, with rooftop views surveying Baku Bay and the Old City. Possibly millennia old, its…
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Yarat means 'create', a spirit that's in ample evidence in this centre's many thought-provoking installations that don't shy away from sociopolitical…
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Completed in 2012, this trio of sinuous blue-glass skyscrapers forms contemporary Baku's architectural signature. The three towers range from 28 to 33…
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This splendid confection of sandstone walls and domes was the seat of northeastern Azerbaijan’s ruling dynasty during the Middle Ages. Mostly 15th century…
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Ever-popular with strollers, this leafy piazza forms Central Baku’s natural focus. The fountains for which it is named include one topped by shiny…
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The unique Ateşgah is an 18th-century fire temple whose centrepiece is a flaming hearth. Arching above is a four-pillared stone dome with side flues which…
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This joyous tailor-made gallery uses struts and tubing to create a wide variety of intimate viewing spaces, in many of which you can recline on bean-bag…
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Looking somewhere between an electricity pylon and an oil derrick, this digital clock forms a central Bulvar landmark.
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One of the Bulvar's striking if smaller modern constructions, the BBM is a 21st-century conference centre with a blue-glass sea-facing back, but a…
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Once a Lenin Museum, this column-fronted neoclassical building has a sternly photogenic facade that looks best seen from across the Bulvar. Inside, the…
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Well-presented exhibits on Azerbaijan’s history and culture might miss the odd century here and there, but there’s more than enough to fill several hours…
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Of all the free-to-enter commercial galleries in Baku's atmospheric Old City, Q has the finest collection of 20th-century Azerbaijani art. It often stocks…
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When active, this excellent commercial minigallery tends to highlight some of the city's more-interesting contemporary artistic trends. Check out their…
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This tapering 29m stone tower is Baku’s foremost historical icon, with rooftop views surveying Baku Bay and the Old City. Possibly millennia old, its…
0.37 MILES
Directly in front of the Maiden's Tower are assorted archaeological diggings at what some consider to be the site where Jesus' disciple St Bartholomew was…