April 30, 2016

2506 AZERBAIJAN (Baku) - Walled City of Baku with the Shirvanshah's Palace and Maiden Tower (UNESCO WHS)


Rising from the south shore of the Absheron Peninsula at the western edge of the Caspian Sea, in Caucasus region, the Walled City of Baku was founded on a site inhabited since the Palaeolithic period. The city reveals, along with the dominant Azerbaijani element, evidence of Zoroastrian, Sassanian, Arabic, Persian, Shirvani, Ottoman, and Russian presence in cultural continuity. The Inner City (İçəri Şəhər) has preserved much of its 12th-century defensive walls, which define the character of the property.

It seems that the construction of the Maiden Tower (symbol of Baku) might have been as early as the 7th-6th centuries BC. Another monument of universal value is the 12th- to 15th-century Shirvanshahs' Palace, located at the highest point. Within the Palace complex are the Divankhana (reception hall) or, as some researchers believe, the Tomb of Shah, the residential building of Shirvanshahs, the remains of Key-Kubad Mosque, the Tomb of Seyid Yahya Bakuvi, Murad's Gate, the Tomb of Shirvanshahs' Family, the Shah Mosque and the Palace bath-house.

Earlier monuments include the Mohammed Mosque, together with the adjacent minaret built in 1078, and remains of the 9th- to 10th-century mosque near the Maiden Tower. There are also numerous historical-architectural monuments of the medieval period such as caravanserais, hamams (bath-houses), mosques and residential buildings of the 18th to 20th centuries. The magnificence of İçəri Şəhər lies in the combination of its distinct architectural monuments and its historically composed architectural spatial planning with original street views, which have merged into a single entity.

About the stamps
The first stamp is part of the series Dogs, designed by Kh. Mirzoyev and issued on August 27, 2014. The second is part of the series First European Games.(2nd edition), designed also by Kh. Mirzoyev and issued on May 1st, 2015.

References
Walled City of Baku with the Shirvanshah's Palace and Maiden Tower - UNESCO official site

Sender: Mare Saavik (direct swap)
Sent from Baku (Azerbaijan), on 21.03.2016

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