Ganja city

A hidden treasure of Azerbaijan

Day #1

Let's start our tour in center of the city square, where is the architectural ensemble of Sheikh Baha Ad-Din: a mosque, baths and a caravanserai

Shah Abbas Square

Shah Abbas Square is a square located in the historical center of Ganja city. This architectural ensemble, located in the center of the suburb, consisted of a mosque, a bathhouse and other buildings. The mosque of Shah Abbas was built in 1606, two minarets were added later, the building was destroyed during the Soviet era, but then restored and functioning. There was a market square surrounded by benches and centuries-old plane trees. In the courtyard of the mosque there is a madrasah (a place for studying the Koran).

Chokyak Hamam Bathhouse

Nearby is the bath Chokyak-hamam, which worked until 1963, and the mausoleum of Javad Khan with the tomb of the last ruler of Ganja This domed bath was built in 1606 according to the plan of the architect Sheikh Bahauddin. The name (the bath in the hollow) is given thanks to the technical design of the bath.

Ganja Madrasah

The building of the madrasah was once located in the central square of Ganja. Just 4 rooms .. and some walls surrounding the mosque of Shah Abbas have survived nowadays.

Tomb of Javad Khan

Javad Khan was the last monarche of Ganja Khanate till 1804. His tomb was built around his grave in the Shah Abbas Square's center, but the nowadas tombstone is kept in Ganja Museum of Local History to nowadays.

Shah Abbas Caravanserai

In 1613–1614 one of the best caravanserais was built by demand of Ugurlu Khan. The construction was headed by the same Sheikh Bahaeddin, the building was named after Great Shah Abbas, as well. Unfortunately, this caravanserai was burned and the monument was severely damaged in 1905, during the massacre committed by Armenians in Ganja. Regarding the burning, Firidun Kocharli wrote in his memoirs: "It did not survive because of the Armenian tribe. Shah Abbas caravanserai burned down." Later, the "Azerbaijani miniatures" museum and "Mahsati Ganjavi" museum of women's creativity were established in the caravanserai. Today, this two-story building made of baked red bricks includes 15 halls and 54 rooms, after a full restoration, it commissioned and is functioning as a hotel, in great demand among tourists.

All 3 buildings, the Mosque, the Hamam and the Caravanserai were once connected by underground routes.

Next, we will walk along Javad Khan Street, where the house of the Zinger brothers is located, built in 1902 by Germans living in the city.

Isaac Zinger workshop

The Zinger workshop was located here until 1920. During the walk, you will learn about famous poets and architects who were born in Ganja, about its name in different periods, about the defenders and traitors of this ancient city..

well-known Bottle-house

We will also walk around the famous bottle house, built by a resident in 1967 from glass bottles in memory of a brother who disappeared in times of The World War II.

Khan's Garden

We'll see the building where the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic was proclaimed in 1918, which existed for only 2 years.

Then we can rest in a beautiful park where the last Khan and his family once rested. On its territory there is a beautiful alley of plane trees, buildings of the Soviet past and part of the fortress wall that once surrounded the city from enemies.

Day #2

Next day, right after oriental breakfast, we will visit the tomb of the fifth prophet of Islam built in the 8th century, the village of Helenendorf, founded by settlers from Swabia in 1819, we will continue our way to the most beautiful lake GoyGol in Azerbaijan, national park of literarture, will see some oriental mosaics as well as the museum of the very famous medieval poet Nizami Ganjavi.

Imamzadeh Mausoleum

We start the day at the Imamzadeh (descendant of the prophet) mausoleum, located 10 km from the city. The complex is also known as the "Blue Dome" or "Blue Mosque" because of the color of the main dome. There is also the tomb of the son of the fifth prophet Muhammad, Bagir Ibrahim. This religious monument not only proves the antiquity of Ganja, but also shows the place and authority of the city in the Islamic world.

Helenendorf settlement

Helenendorf — founded in 1819 by settlers from Swabia due to religious claims, about 700 families were resettled from Germany to Transcaucasia. Later, in 1857, it was decided to build the first Lutheran church in the region, so 3 years later the Kirche succesfully was erected and was named the Church of St. John. The inhabitants were successfully engaged in agriculture and set up a wine factory, which became popular not only in the district but also outside the country. Subsequently, most of the inhabitants left the region due to the beginning of the Second World War.
The church was closed after the deportation of the Germans from the region in 1941. At different times, the building served as a sports hall and a military hospital. In 2008, the St. John’s Church was renovated with the financial support of the German GIZ

Church of St. John

On the way back from the reserve to Ganja, we'll visit Nizami museum and his mausoleum.

Nizami Ganjavi museum

A Little is known about the life of Nizami- (c. 1141-1209), the only source of information about him is his works, but he's undoubtfully a classic of Azerbaijani poetry, the greatest romantic of medieval literature, an artist who introduced colloquial language and into Persian epic poetry.

Nizami's mausoleum

The mausoleum was built on the grave of the poet in 1947, which was built on the ancient destroyed tomb and then rebuilt in 1991 a new complex was built, including, in addition to the mausoleum itself, a park and a sculptural group illustrating the works of the poet. The new building of the mausoleum was built from solid granite blocks delivered from Ukraine.
In honor of the 850th anniversary of the poet, 1991 was declared the “Year of Nizami” by UNESCO.