What to see in Azerbaijan: 10 must-sees

Explore Icherisheher, Baku's walled city, declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2000. Its 50 hectares hold the 11th–12th-century Maiden Tower, 28 meters tall and a symbol of Azerbaijan, wrapped in the legend of a tragic princess. The 15th-century Muhammad Mosque, the Palace of the Shirvanshahs and the City Gate blend Islamic, Persian and Turkish art in one of Central Asia's best-preserved ensembles, with 2,000 years of history between its walls.

Walk the cobbled streets of Sheki, an old Silk Road stop, and step into the Khan's Palace, whose stained glass brings together 8,000 mosaic pieces assembled without nails or glue. The 18th-century caravanserais still keep their stone arches, where merchants once spent the night with their goods. The historic center was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage list in 2019. Among nougat workshops and red-brick facades, the town shows what a caravan outpost in the Caucasus looked like — no stage sets or recent reconstructions.

Visit the mud volcanoes of Gobustan, just 60 kilometers from Baku, where Azerbaijan concentrates 400 of the 1,000 that exist on the planet. The main crater, 10 meters across, erupts every 20 to 40 seconds, spitting mud and methane gas at 60 degrees Celsius. Some cones reach 10 meters in height, and the trails let you approach with care while guides narrate the geological story of this area. Go at sunset, when the light tints the mud gold.

Look out over Khinalug, Azerbaijan's most isolated village, at 2,350 meters in the Guba region, where stone houses huddle on the hillside among juniper woods. Follow its trails between ridges of the Greater Caucasus and high pastures patrolled by eagles and chamois. Its inhabitants speak a language of their own and keep traditions 5,000 years in the making. Bring warm clothing even in summer: the mountain wind drops the temperature fast as evening falls.

Visit the temple where natural fire has been burning for 2,000 years, creating a spectacle of blue flames that Zoroastrians revered as the manifestation of Ahura Mazda. Built in the 18th century over a 1st-century AD Zoroastrian site, the Ateshgah of Surakhani holds an altar where fire wells up from the earth through cracks in the limestone. Adobe walls, courtyards and the ascetics' cells form a complex that combines Persian, Indian and Turkish architecture. The adjoining museum tells the story of the Zoroastrian faith and the gas trade in the region.

Admire the building that redefined contemporary architecture in Azerbaijan — a 74,195-square-meter structure with no right angles that seems to float over the city like a wave of white marble. Designed by Zaha Hadid in 2012, the Heydar Aliyev Center is the country's most controversial and most photographed building, its fluid facade changing shape with every angle. Exhibitions on history, art and architecture spread across four floors, where natural light enters through curved windows that cast shifting shadows. The 60,000-square-meter outdoor plaza offers visitors a space to walk in the sun while taking in Baku's skyline.

Visit the Azerbaijan Carpet Museum on Baku's seafront and get to know the weaving art inscribed by UNESCO on the Intangible Heritage list in 2010. Look at carpets from the Guba, Shirvan and Karabakh schools, hand-woven by women with geometric patterns that carry the stories of each region. Learn how the wools are dyed with plant-based dyes and how the designs change from village to village. Inside the museum itself you will see looms in operation and pieces that date back centuries.