BAKU CITY 2021
BAKU FORTRESS
Baku Fortress is the largest of Absheron fortresses. The fortress consists of the Icheri Sheher and the walls and towers surrounding it and it was included by UNESCO into the World Cultural Heritage List in 2000. It was built in about 1138–1139 on the order of the Shirvanshah Manuchohr III (1120–1149). Based on traveler's illustrations and photos of the 19th century, the fortress consisted of a double wall. The first wall was built by the Shirvanshah III Manuchohr, and the second wall was built during the time of Shirvanshah Akhsitan I.
However, the second fortress walls were destroyed during the reign of Russia in Azerbaijan. The first fortress wall still remains. Baku Fortress has two gates. One of them opened to the Caspian Sea and the other to land. The city walls, which had a height of 8–12 meters and a width of 3.5 meters, provided for Baku's security. In the Middle Ages, the fortress walls were 1500 meters long and now the walls are 500 meters long. In the northern part of the fortress, there is the main tower - quadrangular castle. This fortress is called "armory" in the nation's etiology. The peculiarity of the armory is that, despite being a defensive unit, builders have strengthened the wall by raising it in the center of the fortress wall, not in the center of the city.
MAIDEN TOWER
The Maiden Tower is a 12th-century monument in the Old City, Baku, Azerbaijan. Along with the Shirvanshahs' Palace, dated to the 15th century, it forms a group of historic monuments listed in 2001 under the UNESCO World Heritage List of Historical Monuments as cultural property, Category III. It is one of Azerbaijan's most distinctive national emblems, and is thus featured on Azerbaijani currency notes and official letterheads.
The Maiden Tower houses a museum, which presents the story of the historic evolution of Baku city. It also has a gift shop. The view from the roof takes in the alleys and minarets of the Old City, the Baku Boulevard, the house of Isa bek Hajinski and a wide vista of the Baku Bay.
The Tower is covered by cloud of mysteries and legends which are rooted to the history and culture of Azerbaijan. Indeed, some epics became a subject for scenario for ballets and theatre's plays. The Maiden Tower (ballet) is a world-class Azerbaijani ballet created by Afrasiyab Badalbeyli in 1940 and ballet's remake was performed in 1999.
Consequent to the receding of the sea shoreline of the Caspian Sea, a strip of land emerged. This land was developed between the 9th and 15th centuries, when the walls of the old city, the palace including the huge bastion of the Maiden Tower were built.
HEYDAR MOSQUE
Heydar Mosque is an Azerbaijani mosque named after the former President of Azerbaijan Heydar Aliyev located in the Binəqədi raion of Baku. The opening ceremony of the mosque was held on 26 December 2014. The mosque covers a total area of 12,000 m2 and the internal area of the building covers a total area of 4,200 square meters. The façade of the building decorated with special stones based on the Shirvan-Absheron architectural style. It has four 95m-height minarets. It has 55m-height main and 35m-height second domes. Verses from the Holy Qur'an were written on the sides of domes. The Caucasian Muslim Office appointed Imam Hafiz Abbasov and Akhund Rufet Garayev for the Sunni and Shia sects, respectively. Mubariz Gurbanli, the Chairman to the State Committee on Religious Associations of the Republic of Azerbaijan said that Heydar Mosque is a separate complex. This building is attached to the Executive Power of Baku City and managed on the basis of relevant Regulations.
HEYDAR ALIYEV CENTER
In 2007, Zaha Hadid was appointed as the design architect of the Center after a competition. The Center houses a conference hall (auditorium), a gallery hall and a museum. The project is intended to play an integral role in the intellectual life of the city. Located close to the city center, the site plays a pivotal role in the redevelopment of Baku.
The Heydar Aliyev Center represents a fluid form which emerges by the folding of the landscape's natural topography and by the wrapping of individual functions of the Center. All functions of the Center, together with entrances, are represented by folds in a single continuous surface. This fluid form gives an opportunity to connect the various cultural spaces whilst at the same time, providing each element of the Center with its own identity and privacy. As it folds inside, the skin erodes away to become an element of the interior landscape of the Center.
Heydar Aliyev Center had an official soft-opening ceremony on 10 May 2012 held by current president of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev.
An internationally recognized architectural work, the building of the Heydar Aliyev Center has become a signature landmark of modern Baku due to its innovative and cutting-edge design. Extending on eight floor levels, the center accommodates a 1000-seat auditorium, temporary exhibition spaces, a conference center, workshops, and a museum.
The building was nominated for awards in 2013 at both the World Architecture Festival and the biennial Inside Festival. In 2014, the Center won the Design Museum's Design of the Year Award 2014. This makes Zaha Hadid the first woman to win the top prize in that competition.
BAKU TV TOWER
The Baku TV Tower built in 1996, is a free standing concrete telecommunications tower in Baku, Azerbaijan. With a height of 310 metres (1017 ft), it is the tallest structure in Azerbaijan and the tallest reinforced concrete building in Caucasus.
The tower has become one of the most prominent landmarks of Baku, often in the establishing shot of films set in the city.
FLAME TOWERS
Flame Towers is a trio of skyscrapers in Baku, Azerbaijan, the height of the tallest tower is 182 m (597 ft). The three flame-shaped towers symbolize the element of fire - historically resonant in a region where natural gas flares shoot from the earth and Zoroastrian worshippers saw in fire a symbol of the divine (notably at the Ateshgah of Baku and Yanar Dag).The buildings consist of 130 residential apartments over 33 floors, a Fairmont hotel tower that consists of 250 rooms and 61 serviced apartments, and office blocks that provides a net 33,114 square meters of office space. The cost of Flame Towers was an estimated US$350 million. Construction began in 2007, with completion in 2012. HOK was the architect for the project, DIA Holdings served as the design-build contractor, and Hill International provided project management.
The Flame Towers consist of three buildings: South, East and West. The facades of the three Flame Towers function as large display screens with the use of more than 10,000 high-power LED luminaires, supplied by the Osram subsidiary Traxon Technologies and Vetas Electric Lighting.
On June 2014 Lamborghini opened its first branch in Azerbaijan, located on the ground floor of the East tower of the Flame Towers.
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