Handpicked experience · Baku
Baku, AzerbaijanInstant Confirmation
A dynasty abandoned its own capital because the earthquakes never stopped, and the valley you drive into was the seat of a six-hundred-year kingdom with its own alphabet.
A city abandoned by its own rulers for geological reasons
A mosque foundation dating to the eighth century
The capital of a kingdom that had its own alphabet
Altitude and alpine views without walking for them
Foothill country invisible from the capital
A full day from Baku into the Caucasus foothills: the old mosque at Shamakhi, the lake at Nohur, and the cable car above Gabala, with a private vehicle, a driver and a scheduled lunch stop.
Shamakhi was the seat of the Shirvanshahs, the dynasty that ruled this region for centuries, and it was a substantial city on the trade routes long before Baku amounted to much.
It is also one of the most earthquake-prone places in the Caucasus, and it has been destroyed repeatedly — struck hard enough, often enough, that the court eventually gave up and moved the capital to Baku on the coast. The Juma mosque here was founded in the eighth century, which makes it among the oldest in the region, and it has been flattened and rebuilt more than once since; the version standing today was completed in the last fifteen years or so. The site is ancient, the fabric is not, and the reason is written into the local geology.
Gabala was the capital of Caucasian Albania, a kingdom that occupied much of what is now Azerbaijan for roughly six hundred years and that most visitors have never heard of.
It has nothing to do with the Albania on the Adriatic — the shared name is a coincidence of Greek and Roman geography. It was a distinct state with its own church, its own kings, and its own alphabet of fifty-two letters, which was effectively lost for centuries and only reconstructed from manuscripts in modern times. The old city site lies outside the modern town, and knowing what once stood there changes the drive: this is not a resort valley that happens to be pretty, it is a place that was somebody's capital for six centuries.
Tufandag runs in stages up the mountainside above Gabala, and it puts you at genuine altitude with alpine views for no effort at all, which is the appeal.
It is also the part of the day most likely to be lost. Wind closes the lifts, and mountain weather here changes fast enough that a clear morning in Baku says nothing about conditions at the top four hours later. We will attempt it and reroute to more time at the lake and in the town if the lifts are down. Cable car tickets are bought at the station and are separate from the tour.
Baku to Gabala is a long way, and this trip covers Shamakhi as well. Expect something in the region of six hours of driving across the day, an early start and a late finish.
The country in between is the reason to do it — foothills, forest and villages that no one sees from the capital — but it is a full day and it will use you up. If your schedule allows, an overnight in Gabala turns the same route into a comfortable trip rather than an endurance one.
Breakfast is taken at your hotel before departure, and lunch is a scheduled stop in the early afternoon; drinks with the meal are separate.
Take a warm layer for the cable car regardless of the temperature at sea level, and modest cover for the mosque. The lake path is uneven in places. Cancellation terms for this tour are strict, so treat the booking as fixed once made.
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.
Earthquakes. Shamakhi sits in one of the most seismically active parts of the Caucasus and was destroyed so often that the court eventually relocated to the coast.
The foundation dates to the eighth century, among the oldest in the region, though the building has been levelled and rebuilt more than once since.
A kingdom that held much of present-day Azerbaijan for roughly six hundred years, with Gabala as its capital. It is unrelated to the Albania on the Adriatic.
It covered much of the modern country and endured far longer than most states manage — roughly six centuries before it faded from the record.
No. Wind closes the lifts, and conditions at the top bear no relation to the weather in Baku when you set out.
The time goes to the lake and the town instead. It is the one part of the day that cannot be guaranteed.
Around six hours across a thirteen to fourteen hour day, with an early start and a late finish.
An overnight in Gabala covers the same ground without the endurance element, if your schedule has room for it.