Journey to Baku - First Stop in the Land of Fire

Hello everyone. As I mentioned in my posts before starting my Caucasus trip, my plan was to visit one more country. After leaving Georgia and Armenia with great memories, I headed to Azerbaijan. Of course, our first stop was Baku, the city of fire, wind, oil, cars, nightlife and incredibly delicious food. The Rothschilds and the Nobels invested here, factory owners made enormous fortunes and all of this was directly reflected in the city’s development. Just think about it in only 63 years, Baku’s population increased by 33 times.

Naturally most of this growth came thanks to the working class. But oil barons also lived here, people who developed the city, built hospitals and schools, established infrastructure and commissioned European-style palaces. That is why by the end of the 19th century, Baku began to be called the Paris of the Caucasus.

Let’s start with how to get to Baku. In recent years, the city has been undergoing a major transformation and is becoming an increasingly popular tourist destination. Concerts by global stars are held here. People come for the great food and the atmosphere of the old city and after Eurovision, many also got to know modern Baku. Of course, the first thing tourists see in a new country is the airport and the one here is really top level.

It is simple, functional and very stylish. You can reach the city center by express bus, which takes you to 28 May station. But my advice is this, feel free to use taxis in Baku. If you call one through an app, it is very cheap, since a regular taxi to the city center costs around 20 manats. There are about five different apps. So as soon as you leave the airport, exchange around 10 to 15 dollars. There is Wi-Fi at the airport, so you can call a taxi from there. Uber, Bolt and Yandex Go are available. The cheapest and currently the most popular is Yandex Go, you can use it without any worries. Just know that driving style here is a bit different. Most likely, the driver will chat with you, talk about the city, show photos or point out the new skyscrapers. In fact, the avenue you drive along immediately starts telling the story of modern Baku. First comes the Olympic Stadium, especially impressive in the evenings. Then a skyscraper belonging to the oil fund. After that, the tallest building in the country, a 277-meter office tower.

We saw many more high-rise buildings after that. My favorite is the building of the Ministry of Economy of Azerbaijan. It looks as if a child took LEGO pieces and stacked the same blocks on top of each other. From one angle it resembles a pine tree or a bottle opener, from another it looks like a perfect shish kebab skewer. Because the blocks are slightly rotated, the building looks different from every side. The neighboring skyscraper also belongs to the Ministry of Economy. Thanks to the shifting of each floor, the building rotates by 90 degrees and the ground floor is designed in the shape of the map of Azerbaijan.

If these skyscrapers do not impress you much, which is entirely a matter of taste, a little further on you will reach what is perhaps the most beautiful modern building in Baku, maybe even in the world. I am not joking. This is a project by the Iraqi-born British architect Zaha Hadid. You may not recognize the name, but you have definitely seen photos of her works, such as the London Aquatics Centre or the opera house in Guangzhou. In 2007, a cultural center project was developed in Baku. On the site of a huge factory, a building with almost no straight lines emerged. It rises powerfully upward while at the same time merging softly with the ground. Because the project is separated from the surrounding buildings, it can be examined at length from every direction and offers a completely different silhouette from each angle.

When Zaha Hadid designed this project, she was already a global star. In 2004 she received the Pritzker Prize, considered the Nobel of architecture. Ten years later, she celebrated another victory together with the people of Baku. The Cultural Center was selected as the best building in the world and received the Design of the Year award. Unfortunately, when we visited Baku, the complex was under renovation and completely fenced off. But a building would not be chosen as the best in the world if it were not impressive on the inside as well.

The cultural center is named after Heydar Aliyev, the third president of Azerbaijan. Inside there is a congress center, a museum and exhibition halls. We bought the basic ticket for 15 manats to see the main exhibitions. For an additional 10 manats, we were able to go down to level minus three and visit a massive automobile exhibition. The first installation we encountered upon entering was extremely simple yet very striking. It was an almost weightless fabric. The colors of the Azerbaijani flag wave in the air thanks to a continuous airflow coming from a black circle. Many meanings can be read here. First, Baku is the city of winds. Second, from a distance it resembles a flame, because Baku is the city of fire. And of course, the colors of the flag and traditional motifs are present in this fabric. This shows how minimal and powerful modern art can be.

Here Azerbaijani cuisine, musical instruments, national costumes, the country’s history and its modern development are presented. But for me, the main reason for coming here was the project itself. To see with my own eyes what it looks like inside. Because there is not a single straight line, not a single proper corner.

After visiting the exhibitions, we went up to one of the terraces and in my opinion, the view becomes even more impressive. Panoramic glass, pure white surfaces, elegant lighting and incredible forms. Another structure here hosts an exhibition on carpet art. Carpet weaving is extremely important in Azerbaijani culture. There is also a museum dedicated to this art in the city center, but I will talk about that separately.

From here, you can see both the old and the new city. Especially the staircase here is, in my opinion, the most striking element of the project. The staircase turns into the ceiling, the ceiling turns into the wall. The same idea continues outside. A complete fusion of interior and exterior. It is absolutely incredible. Amazing photo shoots are done here. Everyone is taking photos and it is easy to understand why.

For me this cultural center is the best modern building in Baku. Of course, there are questions about material quality and execution. After all, only 13 years have passed since its construction and major repairs are already needed. Still, the Heydar Aliyev Center has long become a symbol of the city and has even appeared on Azerbaijani banknotes. If you look closely at the banknotes, they might remind you of something. Yes, they resemble the euro. That is because the designer is the same and there are similarities in the conceptual approach as well.

This economic stability makes large investments in modern architecture possible. And the main reason for this was right in front of our eyes. The natural eternal fire written about by Marco Polo in the 10th century. The Baku peninsula is extremely rich in hydrocarbons. Azerbaijan’s greatest wealth is oil and gas.

We visited Yanar Dag near Baku. Due to gas seepage, the fire here has been burning for about 4,000 years. It probably started after a lightning strike. This natural phenomenon attracted fire worshippers for thousands of years. Zoroastrians built temples here and made pilgrimages. That is why Azerbaijan is still called the Land of Fire and the coat of arms of Baku features three golden torches.

It was incredibly hot there. When we visited, it was 36 degrees, the sun was scorching and the heat coming from the flames was extremely strong. The flames were huge and even standing there for five minutes was difficult.

You can easily reach this place by taxi or rental car. Car rental in Azerbaijan is also smooth and affordable. After Yanar Dag, we returned to the city center, explored the old city, walked through the streets of Baku and admired its architectural wonders. From the mid-19th century until World War I, Baku experienced its golden age. More than half of the world’s oil production was here. This wealth led to a massive construction boom and completely transformed the city. Many wealthy individuals commissioned European-style palaces. I will talk about them in my upcoming posts.