Yuhary bash

Researchers believed that Nuha is the ancient city of Sheki. But on the basis of an analysis of historical sources and a full-scale survey, it was found that Sheki and Nukh are different settlements. Sheki city was located much lower in the Kiss gorge. In 1772, the city ​​of Sheki was razed to the ground by a strong flood of the Kish River. Its inhabitants moved to Nuha, which was a hundred meters above the restless river. Subsequently, Nuh greatly developed and expanded ^[9] . Here was built a fortress - the citadel ^[10] .

The river Gurdjanachi, which flows from the east, divides the city into two parts - the northern elevated and the southern, which is located in the valley. In connection with the formation of the shopping center, the city began to develop on one side of the river. The Gurdjanachi and Dayirman-arch rivers (in the western part of the city) were sources of irrigation and water supply. Subsequently, a new urban center with an area was organized at the confluence of these rivers. The Gurdzhanachay River was a natural organizing element of the architectural and planning structure of the city, and the Dayirman-arch river serves as the secondary axis of the city ^[10] .

In terms of Nukhi (the name of Sheki until March 15, 1968 ^{[11] [12]} ) of 1852, the division of the city into areas — Mechella is indicated: A. Yuhary Bash, V. Ganjali Mjaglyas, S. Dabahi, D. Peidumly, E. Chaykrakh, F. Tazakant, G. Kognyakyan. "Yuhary bash" was called the upper part of the city, where the fortress was located ^{[13] [14]} .

The reserve was established on the basis of the Decree of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Azerbaijan SSR No. 206 of April 23, 1967 and the Resolution of the Council of Ministers of the Azerbaijan SSR No. 594 of November 24, 1967 ^[4] . The borders of the reserve were approved by the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Land and Cartography Committee of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the National Academy of Sciences ^[4] .

March 6, 1968 Decree of the Council of Ministers of Azerbaijan SSR No. 97 "Yuhary Bash" was declared an architectural reserve ^{[1] [15]} .

On October 24, 2001, the historical part of the city of Sheki, together with the Palace of Sheki khans, was presented as a candidate from Azerbaijan for inclusion in the UNESCO World Heritage List ^[16] .

The street, which goes from the fortress along the Gurdjanachi River ( Mirza Fatali Akhundov Street ), is a trade and market complex. This street was a long urban center and was a characteristic element of the urban structure. Placement of the shopping center on this street is due to the fact that the city was connected by caravan routes with shopping centers of neighboring countries. Also this street, which was walking from the fortress, emphasized the importance of the Sheki khans' palace located in the fortress ^[17] . One of the advantages of the direction of the shopping street from the north-east to the south-west was that it provided the optimal orientation of the building facing the street; at any time of the day the sun did not blind the eyes of a pedestrian. The shopping street is mentioned in the description of Arnold Zisserman (mid XIX century):

Due to the simultaneous construction of the street in the city were laid in a short time. The main longitudinal street, which ran parallel to the Gurdjanachi River, connected the most significant architectural complexes of the city. This axis of the city harmoniously traces the line of the river ^[19] . Around this shopping street, residential areas are concentrated, which are tight to each other. The grid of the streets that separates them makes up a continuous and indefinite pattern ^[15] .

The streets in “Yukhary Bash” are of great historical, architectural and artistic interest, despite the overall complexity and ramification of the network. In this regard, the first place belongs to the central street (now Akhundov St., earlier - Sheki St.). The building of the streets is limited in height. This ensured the integrity of the ensemble solution ^[19] . Among the streets in the reserve can also be called the streets now they. Fatali Khan Khoysky, Agvanlar, Nureddin, Nakhem, Ganjlyar, Gileili, Sary-torpag, January 20, them. Akhverdiyeva et al.

A dense network of narrow streets, alleys and dead ends branches off from the main streets. Over them are crowns of trees. This tangled network has developed due to local environmental conditions. On the street map ( ill. ) You can trace the direction of the secondary streets of the city to the river, as an essential element for the economic activities of the main population. The handicraft areas in turn turned to the main trade route. The streets of the medieval city were quite wide ^[19] .

• Streets in "Yukhary Bash"
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  Main central street (named after Akhundov)

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  Fatali Khan Khoysky Street

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  Sary-torpag street

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  Mashadi Azizbekov Street

Fortress

In the upper part of the city, on the territory of the reserve is located Sheki fortress , which is a Khan's citadel ^[20] . The fortress was the planning center of the city and is located on one of the city hills of Sheki. The fortification, which was built in 1790 , represents a complex configuration in terms of a polygon ^[21] . The stone walls of the fortress are protected by protruding towers and are equipped with loopholes. The walls of the fortress were subsequently rebuilt several times. During the Caucasian wars, some towers were rebuilt, and the total height of the walls was increased ^[21] .

As with the military strategy, and because of the favorable microclimate of this part of the city, the fortress location is successful. Due to the nature of the relief of the territory occupied by the fortress, the contours of the walls are very curtailed. The total length of the fortress walls is 1300 meters, the height of the north wall is 4 m, and the south wall is 8 m. The wall thickness is 2.2 m. There are two gates on the south and north sides ^[22] . The walls of the fortress reached our time in a destroyed state, but in 1958–63. the fortress was restored ^[23] .

In terms of the fortress, dated 1853 , a large number of structures are shown inside ^[20] . According to this plan, “With the testimony of existing and newly proposed buildings of February 26, 1853,” the number of structures inside the fortress reached forty at the time of the preparation of the plan. Since then, a number of changes have occurred in the building of the fortress, but they were not so drastic as to significantly change the overall planning structure of the complex. The changes were mainly reduced to the adaptation of some buildings for the needs of the military garrison, as well as to the construction of small premises for economic purposes ^[24] . A comparison of this plan with the previously published description of the fortress, compiled in 1819 , shows that the main components of the citadel building were the various living quarters of the Khan's family ^[25] .

Sheki Khans Palace

The most significant architectural monument of the XVIII century in Sheki is the Palace of the Sheki Khans . The date of construction of the palace is considered to be 1797 ^{[26] [27]} . The palace was built by Hadali-Zeynal-Abdin from Shiraz ^[27] in the Persian style ^{[28] [29]} . According to another version, the palace was erected in the 60s of the XVIII century ^{[28] [30]} Huseyn Khan Mushtag, and the architect was Abbas-Kuli, whose name was preserved on the walls of the palace ^[30] . The palace is a two-story building with a main facade, which faces south. The richness of the architectural decor of this facade is very different from the rest. Floor plans are the same. In a very simple composition of the plan of the palace it is very simple there are three rooms arranged in one row. These rooms are separated from each other by hallways ^[26] .

In the architecture of the palace, there is a synthesis of various types of folk arts and crafts as well as a high level of development of construction equipment ^[26] . The architecture of the building has a lot of relatively close analogies. This is an architectural and artistic circle stylistically connected with the Yerevan Serdar Palace and the Late-Sevide garden pavilions, and genetically with the residential architecture of Sheki, where intermediate links are preserved, an example of which is a nearby smaller copy of reception rooms - the House of Shekiks ^[31] .

The main facade is richly decorated, geometric and floral designs are made “in color” using sgraffito and colored relief plaster, there are vaults with stalactites, stained-glass windows with shebeke filigree work and colored glazing. On the lower floor panel there are stylized images of peacocks facing the “tree of life” located in the center ^[32] .

Inside the palace, the rooms are also completely ornamented and painted; niches (tahcha), bukharas , ceilings, stalactite cornices, lighting through the colorful glass of patterned shebeke stained glass - all this creates the interior of the magnificent palace choir. It is believed that the architect skillfully managed with a small height of the floor (only 3.35 m) using decorative means to create the illusion of high premises ^[33] . The interior paintings are of different times - from the “Frankish” (meaning European ) craftsmen who survived in the stalactites of the ceiling of the lower hall, to the paintings of the beginning of the 20th century , made by the famous master Usta Gambar , his brother Safar and son Shukyur from Shushi , as well as Ali Kuli, Kurbanom Kuli and Jafar from Shamakhi , the mouth of Abbas Ali, up to frank popular prints ^[34] . The original paintings of the palace left a deep impression on travelers ^[35] . The palace was described by Alexander Dumas , Alexander Kornilovich , Andrei Fadeev , Arnold Zisserman , Leo Tolstoy , Nikolay Raevsky , Ilya Berezin , Elise Reclu and others mentioned him. For example, General Nikolayev Raevsky who visited this area wrote: “... There there is a palace of the former khans of this region, which is very beautiful and about which the Bakhchisarai Palace gives only a weak presentation ... ” ^[36] .

Khan's Chinars

Before the main facade of the Palace of Sheki khans there are two high Chinara (platans) . According to the information plates in front of each of them, the plane trees were planted in 1530 , the height of one is 42 m, the diameter of the trunk is 13.50 m, and the height of the other is 34 m with a diameter of 11.50 m.

French writer Alexandre Dumas , who visited the city in the late 50s of the 19th century, reported that the chinars growing in the Khan's palace are 300 years old, and only about ten people can hold at the base, holding hands ^[37] . According to Russian ethnographer I. L. Segaly, Mammad-Hasan-Khan, two gigantic servants in front of the palace, hung people he had sentenced to death to himself while watching the execution of his sentence ^[38] .

Azerbaijani writer Sabir Rustamkhanly in his book “The Book of Life” he wrote: “The couple of slender Chinar, like a pair of faithful sentries, stand on guard of the palace day and night ^[39]” . According to the director of the reserve Tarana Abdullayeva, the role of the chenars in preserving the current appearance of the palace is high, since those with their crowns protected the palace from wind, rain and heat ^[40] .

Other objects in the fortress

In addition to the palace in the fortress, according to I. Segal, barracks, a treasury, a prison, and an Orthodox church converted from the khan mosque in 1828 were located ^[38] . This monument, now known as the “round temple” ^[41] , was built in the XIX century ^[42] . Today this building houses the Museum of Applied Arts. In the courtyard there are tombstones of the XIX century of various historical figures buried here.

In 1958, a local history museum was established in Sheki. The museum was established as a local history museum in the Nukh-Zakatala district with the help of the staff of the Museum of the History of Azerbaijan ^[43] . Currently, it is a historical museum of local lore named after Rashid-bek Efendiyev , which is located on the territory of the Sheki fortress, in one of the oldest buildings. The museum contains rich exhibits that relate to the history of Sheki, the flora and fauna, the economic and cultural development of the region, folk crafts ^[44] . The history and natural riches of the region are represented in six rooms of the museum on a rich museum material ^[43] . The museum operates in the building of the former barracks, built in 1895 ^[45] .

The building of the former prison now houses the children's department of the Sheki Central Library. In the former building of one of the barracks, the Sheki Art Gallery is now functioning. In another building there is a Tourist Information Center ^[46] .

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  Round Temple (XIX century)

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  Historical Museum of Local Lore

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  Children's Department of the Sheki Central Library

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  Picture gallery

Mosques and minarets

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  Khan's mosque

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  Mosque Omar Efendi

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  Gedek minaret

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  Minaret on Akhverdova street

• Bretanitsky L.S., Weimarn B.V. The Art of Azerbaijan of the IV - XVIII centuries / Editor I. A. Shkirich. - Moscow: Art , 1976. - 272 p.
• Bretanitsky L., Datiev S., Mamikonov L., Motis D. Nuha (Azerbaijan) / Edited by Acad. V.A. Vesnina and prof. D. E. Arkina . - M .: Publishing House of the Academy of Architecture of the USSR, 1948.
• City Nuha. House of Shekikanovs // Azerbaijan (Historical and Sites) / Under the general editorship of MA Kaziev .. - B .: Publishing House of the Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan SSR, 1960.
• Mamed-zade K.M. The Construction Art of Azerbaijan (from the most ancient times to the 19th century) / Scientific Editor, Academician of the Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan. SSR A.V. Salamzade . - Baku: Elm, 1983.
• Salamzade A.V. , Avalov E.V. and Salaev R. D. Problems of preservation and reconstruction of the historical cities of Azerbaijan / Under the editorship of M. A. Useinov . - B .: Elm, 1979. - 138 p.
• Salamzade A.R. , Mamedzade K.M. Architectural Monuments of Sheki, Ed. M.A. Useinov . - B .: Elm, 1987. - 140 p.
• Salamzade A.R. , Ismailov A.I., Mamedzade K.M. Sheki. Historical and architectural sketch / Ed. M.A. Useinov. - B .: Elm, 1988. - 237 p.
• Khanlarov TA Architecture of Soviet Azerbaijan. - M .: Stroyizdat , 1972. - 112 p.
• Efendizade RM Architecture of Soviet Azerbaijan. - M .: stroiizdat , 1986. - 316 p.