Icheri Sheher (Walled Old City)

Icheri Sheher, the walled Old City of Baku, is the fortified medieval core of Azerbaijan's capital and one of the few Caspian-coast urban centres to retain its historic street plan. The oldest standing monuments date from the 11th and 12th centuries, when Baku was a trading town under the Shirvanshah rulers, and the defensive walls visible today were rebuilt and extended in the 12th century after earlier fortifications were damaged by an earthquake and by invasions. The Shirvanshahs made Baku their capital in the 15th century after Shamakhi was devastated by earthquakes, and the Palace of the Shirvanshahs, built between the 13th and 16th centuries, remains the centrepiece. The district was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2000, together with the Shirvanshah palace and the Maiden Tower, and was placed on the In Danger list from 2003 to 2009 following earthquake damage and uncontrolled construction. The area covers a compact oval of roughly 22 hectares inside walls with several surviving gates, including the Gosha Gala (Double Gate) near Fountain Square, the usual entry point. Within the walls are mosques such as the Juma Mosque, the Mohammed Mosque with the Siniq Gala minaret, the 15th-century Bukhara and Multani caravanserais, 15th-century hammams, the Maiden Tower, and small museums covering carpets, miniature books, history and the work of local artists. Architecturally the quarter is a maze of narrow, curving, mostly cobbled lanes lined with limestone houses, many with wooden balconies and carved doorways, sloping down toward the Caspian shore. The approach is that of a living neighbourhood rather than a curated museum: about a few thousand residents still live inside, and shops, craft stalls, cafes and guesthouses occupy ground floors. Soviet-era restoration in the 1960s, a state preservation programme after 1977, and later rebuilding of sections of the walls have shaped what is seen today, and some critics argue that parts have been over-restored. The best way to understand the quarter is to walk it without a fixed route, entering one or two museums and climbing to the walls or the Maiden Tower for views over the old rooftops, the Flame Towers and the bay. Street names and small information plaques are mainly in Azerbaijani with some English.