Azerbaijan - Cultural Landscape of Khinalig People and “Köç Yolu” Transhumance Route

"This cultural landscape is comprised of the high-mountain Khinalig village in northern Azerbaijan, high-altitude summer pastures and agricultural terraces in the Greater Caucasus Mountains, winter pastures in the lowland plains in central Azerbaijan, and the connecting 200-kilometre-long seasonal transhumance route called Köç Yolu (“Migration Route”). The village of Khinalig is home to the semi-nomadic Khinalig people, whose culture and lifestyle are defined by the seasonal migration between summer and winter pastures, and who retain the ancient way of long-distance vertical transhumance. The organically evolved network including ancient routes, temporary pastures and camping sites, mausoleums, and mosques illustrates a sustainable eco-social system adapted to extreme environmental conditions."

Source: UNESCO World Heritage Site Tentative List

Khynalyq Village and landscape is a UNESCO World Heritage site in Azerbaijan. Thanks to Karolyn of USA.

Azerbaijan - Historic Centre of Sheki with the Khan’s Palace

"The historic city of Sheki is located at the foot of the Greater Caucasus Mountains and divided in two by the Gurjana River. While the older northern part is built on the mountain, its southern part extends into the river valley. Its historic centre, rebuilt after the destruction of an earlier town by mudflows in the 18th century, is characterized by a traditional architectural ensemble of houses with high gabled roofs. Located along important historic trade routes, the city's architecture is influenced by Safavid, Qadjar and Russian building traditions. The Khan Palace, in the northeast of the city, and a number of merchant houses, reflect the wealth generated by silkworm breeding and the trade in silk cocoons from the late 18th to the 19th centuries."

Source: UNESCO World Heritage

Interior of the Consultation Room in Shaki Palace of Shaki Khans. This palace is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Thanks to Rauf of Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan - Walled City of Baku with the Shirvanshah's Palace and Maiden Tower

"Built on a site inhabited since the Palaeolithic period, the Walled City of Baku reveals evidence of Zoroastrian, Sasanian, Arabic, Persian, Shirvani, Ottoman, and Russian presence in cultural continuity. The Inner City (Icheri Sheher) has preserved much of its 12th-century defensive walls. The 12th-century Maiden Tower (Giz Galasy) is built over earlier structures dating from the 7th to 6th centuries BC, and the 15th-century Shirvanshahs' Palace is one of the pearls of Azerbaijan's architecture." 

Source: UNESCO World Heritage

Postcard 1
Old City of Baku, Azerbaijan. Thanks to Kate of Russia.

Postcard 2

A reprint postcard of the old photo of the walled city of Old Baku with Maiden Tower. Postcard sent from Russia by Elena. Thanks.

Postcard 3

Baku Ensemble of Shirvanshakhs Palace, Baku. Thanks to Sini of Finland for mailing from Azerbaijan. Received on November 2016.

Postcard 4

Shirvanshahs Palace in Old City of Baku, Azerbaijan. Thanks to Rafal of Germany.

Postcard 5

Palace of Shirvanshahs, Baku, Armenia. THanks to Boran of Turkey. Mailed on November 3, 2019 and arrived in Penang island on December 2, 2019.

Azerbaijan - Gobustan Rock Art Cultural Landscape

"Gobustan Rock Art Cultural Landscape covers three areas of a plateau of rocky boulders rising out of the semi-desert of central Azerbaijan, with an outstanding collection of more than 6,000 rock engravings bearing testimony to 40,000 years of rock art. The site also features the remains of inhabited caves, settlements and burials, all reflecting an intensive human use by the inhabitants of the area during the wet period that followed the last Ice Age, from the Upper Paleolithic to the Middle Ages. The site, which covers an area of 537 ha, is part of the larger protected Gobustan Reservation." 

Source: UNESCO World Heritage

Postcard 1
Kobustan. The Museum of Cliff Paintings. 8th millenium B.C. Thanks to Ivan of Czech Republic.

Postcard 2

Novruz festival in Azerbaijan. Thanks to Sini of Finland for mailing from Azerbaijan.