Baku Funicular
A short mountain railway from the boulevard up to the Alley of Martyrs — the city's simplest lift since 1960.
funikulyor.tut.az
Monument
Maiden Tower
Baku's emblem: an eight-tier stone cylinder and the questions nobody has settled.
Go to the site
qiz-qalasi.tut.az
A separate third-level domain with its own design
in progress The site is in progress. The domain is reserved; design and texts are under way.
How it will look: each site gets its own colour scheme and structure.
In brief
The Maiden Tower stands on the seaward side of Icherisheher. Its walls are up to five metres thick at the base and eight tiers rise inside; with every step the city opens up below.
When and why it was built is still argued over: a fortification, a temple, an observatory. That very uncertainty makes it the most discussed monument in Baku.
On the site
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01
Theories
Temple, fortress, observatory — arguments side by side
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02
Architecture
Section, tiers, the well and the flue
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03
Legends
Where the name comes from and why the legends multiplied
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04
In pictures
Engravings, postcards, banknotes
Related sites
Ateshgah
A pentagonal temple in Surakhani with a gas flame at its centre — the end of a pilgrims' road.
atesgah.tut.az
Heydar Aliyev Center
Zaha Hadid's building flows like a wave — a lesson in architecture without right angles.
heydar-aliyev-merkezi.tut.az