Old City Route · 1Grand Baku Tour · 2

Double Gates of the Old City

Fortress walls · 12th century and later · Istiglaliyyat St, Icherisheher, Baku

Diego Delso · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Resized; cropped for display

Icherisheher, the walled Old City of Baku, is surrounded by fortress walls whose oldest parts go back to the 12th century, the time of the Shirvanshahs.

The Double Gates are the best-known way into the Old City. Behind them begins a maze of narrow lanes, mosques, caravanserais and houses where people still live today.

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Icherisheher is Baku's Old City, enclosed by fortress walls. But it is much more than a collection of monuments. People still live among these narrow lanes, beside mosques, bathhouses and the old inns where travelling merchants once stayed.

The Maiden Tower and the Palace of the Shirvanshahs are its best-known landmarks. Between them, smaller details tell another part of the story: a carved doorway, an arch, a quiet courtyard. The whole historic ensemble is recognised by UNESCO. If you explore beyond the main souvenir streets, remember that some doorways lead to private homes. Give residents their space, and let the neighbourhood unfold at its own pace.

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Look up at the battlements and the thickness of the walls.

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