Handpicked experience · Baku
Baku, AzerbaijanInstant Confirmation
Three towers wired as one screen, a flagpole that held the world record for about a year, and an arena built in eight months because of a song contest.
Three buildings running one animation between them
A world record that everyone knew would be temporary
An arena delivered against an immovable broadcast deadline
The bay, the boulevard and the towers from one hillside
Two evening hours that need no walking
Two hours after dark, driven through the lit parts of Baku: the modern landmarks along the bay, the boulevard, and the hill above the city where the whole skyline is visible at once.
The Flame Towers are three separate buildings, and their entire outer surface is a display. Tens of thousands of LED units are fixed across the facades, driven as one image so that the three towers behave like a single screen from a distance.
The sequence cycles. Flames climb the buildings, which is the obvious one. Then the national flag appears and moves as though in wind across all three. Then a figure made of light stands and pours water from one hand. From the right viewpoint the whole city seems to be watching a very large, very slow animation.
None of it is visible in daylight, which is the entire argument for doing this after dark rather than adding it to a day tour.
Flag Square was built around a flagpole a little over a hundred and sixty metres tall, which on completion in 2010 was the tallest in the world.
It held that distinction for roughly a year before Tajikistan built a taller one, and has since been passed several times over. There is something very honest about the whole enterprise: the record was always going to be temporary, everyone involved knew it, and the pole was built anyway. It remains an extraordinary object to stand underneath, and the flag on it is large enough that you can hear it.
Crystal Hall exists because Azerbaijan won the Eurovision Song Contest in 2011 and therefore had to host it in 2012.
The venue was designed, built and finished inside roughly eight months, on reclaimed ground at the end of the bay, wrapped in a faceted shell that is lit from within and changes colour through the evening. Whatever you think of the contest, a twenty-three thousand seat arena delivered in eight months is a serious piece of work, and it has been in use for concerts and events ever since.
This is a driving tour with photo stops, not a walking one. Most of the two hours is spent in the vehicle, which is the sensible way to cover landmarks that are spread along several kilometres of waterfront.
Highland Park is the coldest and windiest point of the route and the one where you will want to be outside longest, so bring a jacket regardless of the season. Bring a camera that copes with low light if you have one; phone cameras handle the Flame Towers reasonably but struggle with the bay behind them.
Open it to pick a date and work out the price.
What the fare covers, and what to budget for separately.
The practical detail, and the answers people actually ask for.
Three, arranged so that they read as a group from most of the city. Their curved profile is the same from almost every angle.
A cycle: flames climbing the buildings, then the national flag moving as though in wind, then a figure of light pouring water from one hand.
No, which is the whole reason to do this in the evening rather than adding the towers to a daytime route.
Ceremonial use. It was laid out as a national space around the pole, and the surrounding esplanade is used for events.
Very. It weighs enough that it needs a substantial wind to lift properly, and you can hear it moving from the ground.
Azerbaijan won the Eurovision Song Contest in 2011 and had to host it in 2012, so the venue went from design to finished in roughly eight months.
No. It is a drive with photo stops, which suits landmarks spread along several kilometres of waterfront.
Highland Park, which is also the coldest and windiest point on the route.