Absheron Castles Tour

Absheron Castles Tour Highlights : Gala State Historical Ethnographic Reserve, Mardakan Quadrangular Castle,Ramana Castle,Mardakan Round  Castle

Gala State Historical Ethnographic Reserve

Mardakan Quadrangular Castle

Ramana Castle

Mardakan Round Castle

The Gala State Historical Ethnographic Reserve is a complex of museums in Baku. Inside there are three different types of museums: Museum of Archaeology and Ethnography in the Open Air. Castle Museum (partly open-air), and the Museum of Antiques. The museum is 1.5 ha in area and has rock paintings, pottery, household items, jewelry, weapons, and coins that belong to the ancient times of Azerbaijan. In this museum, there are more than 2,000 different archaeological and architectural monuments – mounds, seats of ancient settlements, burial places dating back to thousands of years ago. It is located in Qala, 40km far from Baku and bears the name of this district. Gala- State Historical Ethnographic Reserve is devoted to the history of the Absheron Peninsula. As a result of archaeological excavations, it is feasible to get a picture of the lifestyle of the Azerbaijani people from ancient times to the Middle Ages. There is an 18th-century tandoor, two underground passages belonging to the 10th and 15th centuries. Besides these, old houses, portable tents made of animal skins, stone and straw houses with domes, an old smithy, a pottery workshop, and a thresher can be found. All these can be touched and photographed. There are 243 historic-architectural monuments (mosques, ancient living buildings, baths, coffee beans, walls of ancient houses, etc.) in the Gala Museum. There are also 400-year-old pistachio trees, figs, figs, olive trees, flowers and other decorative items in the territory of the reserve

• Mardakan Fortress- Quadrangular castle –is a historic castle located in Mardakan, Baku. It is one of the most noticeable castles in Mardakan. The castle was built in the middle of the 12th century by Akhsitan I, son of the Manuchihr III. It was erected after the victory of Akhsitan I. The castle was used as a shelter and observation point of feudal. The castle was built in a quadrangular form. It is divided into 5 tiers. The castle consists of 6 rooms. The inner courtyard of the castle is 28×25 m. The height of the tower is 22 meters. The thickness of it is 2.10 meters at the lower part and 1.60 meters at the upper portion. There are 76 stairs in the castle. 108 empty wells in the yard were used to store food. There is also a water well of 25 meters when entering the entrance of the castle.

• Mardakan- Round Tower. Round Tower is a castle located in Mardakan near Baku. The castle is also called Shikh fortress by local residents. At the top of the gate of the tower, there are three inscriptions written in Arabic on a large rectangular stone layer. According to the first inscription on the castle, it was built during the reign of Fariburz III. The second inscription shows that the owner of the Round Mardakan fortress was Ihsac bin Kakuli and it was built in 1232. The third inscription indicates that it was built by architect Abd al-Majid Masood oghlu. The height of the Round Mardakan Tower is 16 meters. It is built of limestone and lime solution. The fortress surrounding the tower consists of a square-shaped yard (25×25 m), surrounded by stone walls, seven meters high on each side. At the corners of the fortress wall, there are towers, railing, and watchtowers. The tower is round in the plan and it gets narrow upward.

• Ramana Castle. Ramana Tower – is a tower in Ramana village of Baku and dated back to the 12th century. The height of the tower is 15 meters. The exact construction date of the tower, which is built of white stone, is not known. It is considered that the tower was built for the purpose of defense and used as a castle during the Shirvanshahs ’reign. There are two stairs for walking up to the tower walls. It is possible to walk up by spiral stairs from the inner side of the tower to a corridor, which was built about 3 meters (outside of the tower. The other stone stair walks up to the upper side of the tower from the garden. By means of these stairs, it is possible to walk up to the tower walls and look at the village.