Shaki

25 September 201

At 8pm this evening I was sat in the courtyard of the caravansaria in Shaki, listening to the call to prayer from the mosque next door.

It was a timeless moment and a magical one which will stay with me. The caravansaria has been lovingly restored to maintain all of its original character. Initially built to house visiting traders on route east and west through Central Asia, the place is now a simple hotel for tourists to the town.  My room had bare brick walls, a curved brick roof , tiled floor and thick walls to keep the warmth in.

Shaki has a patterned fronted palace built in 1762, which is set in lovely gardens and over looks the older part of the town.

There has been a long history of silk making in Shaki but my search for the factory ended in sad news that the industry has ground to a halt. There is one shop selling the last remaining pieces and the factory has now closed. Old mulberry bushes line the road to Shaki but they are rapidly being replaced with new apple trees.

Futher up the valley I visited an old Caucasian Albanian church that has been renovated with support from Norway. Thor Heyerdahl, the famous archeologist and historian was influential in this project. He believes that the first Norwegians came from Azerbaijan. His theory is based on similarities between drawings of boats found here and in Norway, and myths that Odin emigrated from Azerbaijan in the 1st century to escape from the Romans. It was a real surprise to see a statue of him in this small village and to learn of these possible links.

It was here that I started to get a sense of the rich history of Azerbaijan and how through the ages the people and their lives have been influences by the impact of wars and invasions coming from the west, north and south. Persian, Turkish and Russian influences have moulded their lives but the Islamic culture and the traditions of the villagers appear to be very strong.