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

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Azerbaijan
Date of Inscription: 2000
Criteria: (iv)
Core zone: 21.5 ha
Apsheron peninsula
N40 22 0 E49 50 0
Ref: 958
Inscription Year on the List of World Heritage in Danger: 2003

Brief Description

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.

Justification for Inscription

Criterion (iv): The Walled City of Baku represents an outstanding and rare example of an historic urban ensemble and architecture with influence from Zoroastrian, Sassanian, Arabic, Persian, Shirvani, Ottoman, and Russian cultures.

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