Fortress walls ( azerb. Qala divarları ) - fortress walls and towers surrounding the medieval Old City of Baku - Icheri Sheher . The city of Baku, as evidenced by the illustrations of travelers and photographs of the late 19th century, was once surrounded by two rows of walls. Of these, only one high stone wall with several gates has survived to this day. These gates during the time of Shah Abbas I and later were repeatedly restored [1] .
| Fortress | |
| Fortress walls | |
|---|---|
| azerb. Qala divarları | |
 Western part of the ramparts with mashikuli | |
| A country |  Azerbaijan |
| City | Baku |
| Founder | Minuchihr III the Great |
| Established | 12th century |
| Status | UNESCO World Heritage Site |
 World Heritage Site | |
| Walled City of Baku with the Shirvanshah's Palace and Maiden Tower (Old fortress in Baku with the Palace of Shirvanshahs and the Maiden Tower) | |
| Link | No. 958 on the World Heritage List |
| Criteria | iv |
| Region | Europe and North America |
| Inclusion | 2000 ( 24th session ) |
The fortress wall of the city is equipped with towers , loopholes , banquets and mashikuli , and served as reliable protection of the city [1] . The length of the fortress walls today is 500 m, although in the Middle Ages it was 1500 m. The width of the walls is 3.5 m, and the height is 8-10 m [2] .
Content
- 1 History
- 1.1 City plans
- 2 Fortress walls on postage stamps and banknotes
- 3 See also
- 4 notes
- 5 Literature
History
The fortress walls of Baku were described by such travelers as Abd al-Rashid Bakuvi (1403), Evliya Celebi (1647), Engelbert Kempfer (1683), Johann Jacob Lerche (1734), Samuel Gottlieb Gmelin (1770), Ilya Nikolaevich Berezin (1842) and etc. [3]
The city walls once approached the Caspian Sea itself . As a result of tectonic processes, the shape of the coast often changed and the sea level dropped sharply. As a result, the fortress is separated from the sea by a wide strip of land, where later the seaside boulevard and Neftyanikov Avenue appeared [4] .
From the land side, the fortress was protected by a wide and deep ditch, filled with water from springs through underground water pipes that went towards the fortress in three directions [5] . From the side of the sea, that is, from the south, there was always one wall [6] .
In the ancient system of fortifications of the city, a certain role was also played by walls and towers, going into the sea towards the remnants of the Sabail castle in Baku Bay . They can also be seen in the figure of Engelbert Kempfer who visited Baku in the 17th century . Also, as a result of the sewer work of 1927, at the depth of 2.75 m, the remains of the fortress wall were revealed, which extended towards the sea in the vicinity of the Maiden Tower . These earlier walls preceded the existing ones and were erected during the formation of the feudal city [5] .
With the accession of the city of Baku to the Russian Empire ( 1806 ), the fortress walls were included in the list of regular fortresses. From now on, the walls were subordinate to the Engineering Department of the War Ministry as a class 1 fortress. In the years 1808-1810, the medical assistant and the bastions were replaced and corrected. Corrections are noticeable on the General Plan of the Baku Fortress, drawn up in 1817. [3]
In 1867, the Baku fortress ceased to be considered one of the military fortresses. In the fortress wall above the Shemakha gate, on the initiative of the merchant Haji Zeynalabdin Tagiyev, new gates were built under the name Upper (Tagiyev.)
In 1879, at the initiative of the city governor, V.M. Posen a special commission was established to inspect the walls.
From 1883 to 1888, the outer fortress wall was demolished. In 1887, a new gate was opened. After that, the Shemakha gate turned into a twin gate: Gosha Gala Gapysy. [3]
In 1954 [7], as a result of the collapse in one of the half-towers of the northern city wall [5] , a large stone slab with three-line inscription of the 12th century in Arabic [7] , made in Kufic handwriting [8] , which was part of the whole preserved inscription, was found. The stone is now on display at the Museum of the History of Azerbaijan in Baku, and the inscription informs about the construction of the city wall by Shirvanshah Minuchikhrom III (1120–1160) in the first half of the 12th century [5] .
| He ordered to build (this) city wall Melik the exalted, wise, fair, victorious, victorious, Mujahid (warrior for faith), the pride of religion and power, the support of Islam and Muslims, the greatest hakan , the great Shirvanshah Abu l-Haja Minuchikhr, Ibn ... [ 5] . |
In the XVII century , the second row of fortress walls appeared [9] . So, in 1608/9 , during the reign of Shah Abbas I, the city walls were restored [10] , and by the order of Zulfigar Khan, external city walls were built. This is reported by the inscription on the gate with the construction date of the 1017 year of the hijra (1608/9 year) [11] .
Also in the Middle Ages, the city had 5 entrances [2] . In 1656, Turkish traveler Evliya Celebi visited Baku. He wrote:
| The Baku fortress, located on the shores of the Caspian Sea, is built on a high hill and represents a beautiful square fortress. The inner fortress has gates facing the West. Gates of Nakhchivan iron. [12] |
At the beginning of the 19th century, an annular street (now Malaya Krepostnaya, or Kichik Gala ) was laid along the inner contour of the fortress walls. In the 80s of the XIX century, the second row of walls was demolished [9] . So, back in 1868, the military governor of Baku turned to the Caucasus Military District , proposing to demolish the fortress walls in order to improve the city. In 1870, permission was granted to demolish the outer tier of the fortress walls. In 1886, this question was once again raised at a meeting of the Duma, and as a result, the external walls were demolished, and the gates built by Zulfigar Khan from the demolished external fortress walls were placed next to the Shemakha gates of the first tier of walls [2] . Nowadays, these gates are popularly called the Pair Fortress Gate ("Gosh gala gapysy") [13] .
Shemakha or Pair gates of the fortress (left gate of Zulfigar Khan, built at the beginning of the XVII century)
The inscription on the gates of Zulfigar Khan
The preserved foundation of the second outer row of city walls
City plans
The primary plan of the city of Baku was drawn up by the Russian army in 1723 . The city gates ((Shemakha (now Gosha Gala Gapysy) and Mountain (Salyan, now in the garden near Azneft)), fortified walls, and three sea gates are marked on the plan.
On the plan of 1738 marked bastions, feldshane, as well as bonnets.
The plan of 1796 recorded the destruction of the inner and outer walls from the eastern part. [3]
Fortress walls on postage stamps and banknotes
- Fortress walls on postage stamps and banknotes
Postage stamp Azerbaijan, 1920
Postage stamp Azerbaijan, 2010
Postage stamp Azerbaijan, 2010
Fortress walls on Azerbaijani banknote of 100 manat
See also
- Nukhinskaya fortress
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 Dadashev, Useynov, 1948 , p. 37.
- ↑ 1 2 3 Monuments of National Importance (Unavailable link) . The official website of the Office of the State Historical and Architectural Reserve Icheri Sheher .. Date of access September 24, 2015. Archived January 1, 2012.
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 Fortress walls of Baku .
- ↑ Brittany, 1970 , p. fifteen.
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 5 Ashurbeyli, 1992 , p. 142.
- ↑ Ashurbeyli, 1992 , p. 141.
- ↑ 1 2 Guide to the museum exposition. - B .: Publishing House of the Academy of Sciences of the Azerbaijan SSR, 1961. - P. 43.
- ↑ Bretanitsky L.S. Architecture of Azerbaijan XII-XV centuries. and its place in the architecture of the Front East. - Science, Main Edition of Oriental Literature, 1966. - S. 376. - 556 p.
- ↑ 1 2 Salamzade, Avalov, Salaev, 1979 , p. 83.
- ↑ Bartold V.V. Place of the Caspian littoral regions in the history of the Muslim world // Works. - 1963.- T. II . - S. 756 .
- ↑ Ashurbeyli S. B. Essay on the history of medieval Baku, VIIII-beginning HIKS centuries. - B .: Publishing House of the Academy of Sciences of the Azerbaijan USSR, 1964. - P. 250. - 333 p.
- ↑ Salamzade, Avalov, Salaev, 1979 , p. 86.
- ↑ Suleymanov M. Days past. - B .: Azerbaijan State Publishing House, 1990. - S. 8. - 340 p.
Literature
- Ashurbeyli S. B. History of the city of Baku. The period of the Middle Ages. - B .: Azerneshr, 1992 .-- 408 p. - ISBN 5-552-00479-5 .
- Bretanitsky L. S. Baku: architectural and artistic monuments. - M .: Art , 1970 .-- 245 p.
- Dadashev S.A. , Useinov M.A. Architecture of Azerbaijan. III — XIX centuries. - M .: Publishing House of the Academy of Architecture of the USSR, 1948. - 94 p.
- Salamzade A. V. , Avalov E. V. and Salaev R. D. Problems of conservation and reconstruction of historical cities of Azerbaijan / Edited by M. A. Useinov . - B .: Elm, 1979. - 138 p.