Icharishahar

Icharishahar

Icharishahar, the historical neighborhood known as the "Gala" or simply "The Old City", is the oldest part of Baku, as well as a historical and architectural reserve. Icharishahar, the oldest part of Baku, is surrounded by well-protected fortress walls. More than 1,300 families live in the reserve area of ​​221,000 m².

The reserve area is still inhabited by the Bronze Age. As a result of archaeological researches it was found that during the VIII-IX centuries the territory of Icheri Sheher was densely populated, where crafts and trade developed. In the 15th century, the process of crystallization began in the life of Icheri Sheher after the transfer of Shirvanshahs from Shamakhi to Baku. In 1748-1806 Baku and its center Icheri Sheher was the capital of the Baku khanate. After the Russian occupation of Baku and the oil boom in the 1806s (late 19th - early 20th centuries), the process of development and expansion of the city began, and people began to settle outside the walls of Icheri Sheher.

The famous architectural monuments in Icheri Sheher are considered as pearls of Maiden Tower and Shirvanshah Azerbaijan architecture. In addition, there are dozens of historical and architectural monuments - mosques, caravanserai, baths, houses - several museums, embassies, hotels, shopping facilities, cafes and restaurants.

In 1977, Icheri Sheher was declared a historical and architectural reserve, and in 2000, the Maiden Tower and the Shirvanshah Palace complex was the first UNESCO World Heritage List to be included in the World Heritage List.

Icheri Sheher Historical and Architectural Reserve is located on the small hill on the coast of the Caspian Sea in the Sabail district of Baku. The reserve is surrounded by tower walls 8-10 meters high and 3.5 meters wide. To the south-east of Icheri Sheher, Istiklal Street, and to the north-west, Neftchiler Avenue, to the east there is the same subway station. Aziz Aliyev Street passes to the east of Icheri Sheher, and to the southwest there is a single park.

Baku is one of the cities around the ancient historical center, surrounded by fortress walls and ditches. Archaeological research is poorly understood, and the history of Baku's settlement as a settlement and city is not known. It is thought that people were attracted to the area by its natural oil and salt reserves, as well as its favorable location along the coast. Excavated in the courtyard of the Shirvanshah Palace during archeological excavations. Dome of III-I centuries BC Earthenware pottery fragments dating to the IV-I centuries, archaeological excavations at the Mohammed Mosque, the Iron Age clay figure and antique period columns allow us to identify the late Antique period as the city. B.e. In the first century, Baku was already a small port city.

During the rule of the Sassanid dynasty, the capital city of Absheron was a special province of the empire within the Shirvan province. After the occupation of the area by the Arabs, the judges of the Shirvan province, which includes Shamakhi, Derbent and other cities, are called Shirvanshahs, except Baku. Al-Balazuri, Al-Masudi and several other Arab historians report that Khosrov summoned the district judges during the Anushiravan rule, and there were some Shirvan judges called Shirvanshah. There is only brief information about the history of the 7th-9th centuries in Baku. It is known that the city was subjected to attacks by Turks and Russians from the north. In 914, the Russians attacked the Baku port. Masudi says that the Russians came to the oil-rich Baku area in the Shirvanshahs. Shirvanshah Ali bin Haysam, who does not have a naval fleet in the Caspian, was forced to send troops on commercial and cargo ships. According to Massoudi, thousands of Muslims died and were sunk in the sea as a result of this Russian attack. The marches along the Baku and Absheron coasts were repeated several times in recent times.

Although Al-Saddam describes Baku as the "only port of the region" in the 10th century, it is known that in the 8th and 9th centuries, Baku was not a popular seaport and the city was not named among the major shopping centers of the country. Numerous coins dating back to the Sassanids (V-VII centuries), Abbasids and Shirvanshahs have been discovered during archeological studies of Baku's trade with other cities. Authors who lived in the late 10th century mark the city as a popular port. The city, which is not too high, was surrounded by castle walls. The medieval group discovered on the southeast facade of the Shirvanshahs Palace belongs to the 8th century. The custom of burial in cans found in different parts of Icheri Sheher shows that the area is still a residential area more than VII century. However, the architectural monuments of the early days of the city have not reached our time.