Shaki or Sheki is a small city on the southern part of the Greater Caucasus Mountains with beautiful views and historic attractions.
Crossing the border to Shaki.
We’re on the way to visit the The Palace of Shaki Khan which is on top of the hill.
Sheki Caravanserai is a historical monument in Sheki. Dating back to the 18th to 19th century, this caravanserai is now used a hotel complex since 1988.
The fortress wall are nearly 1,200m long and over 2 meters thick.
The Palace of Shaki Khan which is a summer palace remains as one of Shaki’s must see attraction.
Entering the palace’s compound.
The palace is a magnificent example of Islamic architecture. Not a single nail was used for its construction.
The stained glass windows are a mosaic of coloured glass set in a wooden latticework that was assembled without nails or glue.
You can see the interior of the palace but you are prohibited to take any photo inside. The interior of the palace is as exquisite as its exterior. It even has matching carpet and ceiling design in two of its rooms! Sadly one of the carpet is missing and the other is stolen by the Russian.
In case you’re wondering, these colourful lotus are plastics, haha.
It has a garden which offers beautiful views of the city and surrounding mountains.
Next, we walked towards the Albanian Church.
In the 1st century, Shaki was one of the biggest cities of the Albanian Kingdom.
It was one of the important and economic cities before the Arab invasion.
Shaki Historical-Regional Etnography Museum is dedicated to one of Shaki’s most famous educators and authors, Rashid Bey Efendiyev.
The museum is a modest one-storey building.
The model of the whole Shaki town inside the museum.
This is the largest Azerbaijani dictionary.
The museum showcase some flora and fauna that can be seen inside the forest around Shaki.
The pottery section.
These copper products are actually made to cover or contain food.
Traditional clothes worn by women.
Here’s an interesting fact: people can actually guess a woman’s age by looking at her shoes.
This is the local handicrafts workshop. You can get local souvenirs here.
Stained glass panels similar to the ones we’ve seen at the palace.
The view of Shaki city.
Stop the fighting! The World War II Memorial of Sheki.
One of the memorial / cemetery that we passed by on the way to view the panoramic view of the town.
This is a museum that is dedicated for World War II. Looks abandoned to me.
The weeping lady statue depicts the despair of the people during the war.
Shaki, a beautiful town amidst lush green mountains.
The view is beautiful.
But unfortunately the panoramic view was blocked by trees.
Time for dinner, yay! This is the restaurant that our tour guide recommended to us.
The restaurant’s exterior somewhat resembles the Palace of Shaki Khan.
But the interior of the restaurant is western log cabin style in contrast.
It was our last day in Azerbaijan. And I can’t leave without tasting the famous local food, Pilaf or also know as Plov.
Pilaf is a dish where the mixed rice with meat is wrapped with a thin layer of bread and baked. The portion is large so it is normally shared with a group of people. The two of us really can’t finish it even though it was delicious.
There are some meat, raisin, promenades and some other dried fruits inside the rice which gives it a sweet and sour taste.
Besides the restaurant is a small park.
After the hearty dinner, I walked around the town of Shaki for a while before calling it a night. Most of the shops were closed around 7pm.
Went back to the hotel, Issam.
The hotel lobby.
In the next morning, it’s time for us to leave Azerbaijan and cross the border to Georgia. An old church on the hill as we’re on the way to the border.
We’re crossing the border between Azerbaijan and Georgia.
Goodbye, Azerbaijan.
And hello, Georgia.
I’m now in no-man’s land, a strip of land between Georgia and Azerbaijan.
Our tour guide was kind enough to help us with the luggage while crossing the border. Thank you, Yasin. We had a great time in Azerbaijan.
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