Shirvanshah Palace
Cultural
Description
Shirvanshah Palace
The Palace of the Shirvanshahs is a 15th-century palace built by the Shirvanshahs and described by UNESCO as "one of the pearls of Azerbaijan's architecture". It is located in the Inner City of Baku, Azerbaijan and, together with the Maiden Tower, forms an ensemble of historic monuments inscribed under the UNESCO World Heritage List of Historical Monuments. The complex contains the main building of the palace, Divankhana, the burial-vaults, the shah's mosque with a minaret, Seyid Yahya Bakuvi's mausoleum, a portal in the east, Murad's gate, a reservoir and the remnants of a bath house.
The main building of the complex was started in 1411 by Shirvanshah Sheykh Ibrahim I. The two-storey building of the palace numbers about 50 dimensions and outlines of the constructions connected with three narrow winding staircases. The big lancet portal directly leads from the courtyard to the second floor, into a high octahedral lodging covered with a cupola. A small, octagonal vestibule behind it connects it with the rest of the lodgings in the palace.
The Mausoleum of the Shirvanshahs is rectangular and crowned with a hexahedral cupola that is decorated from outside with multi-radial stars. The inscription on the entrance doorway indicates the purpose of the building.
Divankhana is a small stone pavilion. It is inside a small courtyard surrounded by a gallery-arcade on three sides.
The Palace Mosque (1430s) is in the lower court of the complex. There are two chapels for prayers in the mosque: a large hall for men and a small hall for women, and a couple of small subsidiary rooms. There is an inscription laid under the stalactite belt of the minaret.
Seyid Yahya Bakuvi's Mausoleum is in the southern part of the complex. The mausoleum is octahedral and covered with an octahedral marquee.
The Shirvanshahs' Palace complex includes the portal of Eastern Gates, the so-called "Sultan Murad's Gate" (1585).
The Palace Bath-house is on the lowest terrace of the complex. The archaeological excavations exposed a big bath-house consisting of 26 rooms. The bath-house was semi-underground for keeping the heat in winter and the cool in summer.
The Shirvanshahs' Palace complex was declared a museum-reserve in 1964 and was taken under the state protection. Major rehabilitation works took place in 2001 and 2002 under World Bank financing. Minor rehabilitation works are ongoing.