Ganja azerbaijan is the second largest city of the country , Historical gateway and the birth place of famous poet NIzami Gajnavi . This city has been established in the 5 th century . The city’s name changed a lot of time bacause it has been captured by different rulers . Finally after independence in 1991 it was named as Ganja. This city has beautiful Russian architectured building , fountain and shopping malls (representing the modern atmosphere of Ganja ) . It has beautiful Turkic bath house , wide avenues , museums , beautiful parks and the old Caravansary . Caravansary is used by the merchants in the silk route .
how to reach ganja ?
Ganja is the city situated in the Western part of the country . The city is connected by air , road and rail with the capital Baku . Also it is connected with other big cities by roads .
By the road you can reach Ganja by either Mashrutka or Bus . The bus takes 5 Mannat from Baku and the Mashrutka takes 9 mannat to reach Ganja .
Rail connectivity is also very good with the capital Baku . There has been modern double Decker train and sleeper train towards the capital . I forgot the price but train is little expensive than road transport . So most people except tourist and rich travel by the Road transport .
There is Ganja International Airport which is situated 8-10 km from the city center .
places to visit in ganja:
Nizami Ganjavi Mausoleum :
Nizami Gajnavi is a famous persian poet lived in this part of the area . His famous five poem are the landmark. The world famous love charecter layla and Majnun was the creation of him .
This mausoleum was from the 13 th century in this place . but in 1991 it was renovated to current form .
This place has been 14 km from the city of Gajnavi and buses and Masrutka also come here.
Museum of nizami gaznavi :
This is pretty new and opened in 21 st January 2014 . This was made to give a spotlight on the life of the Nizami Gajnavi and his works . This looks a modern building . Lots of poems are preserved here .
After you go inside they will provide free guide to understand about the museum . As all the instuctions and descriptions are mostly in Azerbaizani and russian Language So It is a good choice for the foreign traveler .
Bottle House of Ganja :
Bottle house is a unique house which was not build with bricks but the trash bottles by Ibrahim Jafarov in 1967 . This two storied building was situated in the 4, 4 Qəmbər Hüseynli of Ganza city . It is mainly situated in a crossing .
The design you see in the building was really made of bottles of different size and thickness . All togeather 48000 bottles makes this building . You need special permission to go inside of this building .
Karavancy :
It is one of the oldest building in the Ganza city . In older days when merchants trade from west to the east through the silk route they take rest in this place . It was build by te Shah Abbas in the 17 th century . It is a long two floor brick and mortar building .
This building has 54 small and 15 large rooms . In those rooms they store the food grains and traded items and keep their animals inside the open area inside the karvansarai .
Now a days it’s rooms and free space has been converted into hotels and the museum complex . When I go there in 2024 , it was closed for the renovation reason . But they taken me inside to see the glimpse inside .
shah abbas mosque :
Shah abbas Mosque is a mosque build in the historical center of the city in the year 1606. It is also called the Juma Mosque . Later it was modified and restructured in the year 1776 and 2008 .
It is made in Arran architectural style where the glass and wood works in the windows are really impressive where no glue and nails are used . It is situated the main Historical centre of the Ganza city .
Chokak Hamam :
Chokak Hamam is a turkish bath house build during the king Shah abbas in 1606 and it was still functional until 1963 as bath House .
There is a large hall inside this building , heated by the woods . It has fountains , hot and cold shower inside the bath house . It has two large domes and five smaller domes for the temperature control and ventilation .
Now a days it is a museum . It was build by totally red brick .
Khan baghi :
It is Ganja’s oldest and most beautiful garden . It is also a historical garden which was build in the 17 th century . later it was enlarged and beautified in the time of Javed khan of khan ate rule .
It was originally 50-60 acres of area where they put different types of flowers and large trees . It has green theatre , fountain and recreational area .
Some people called it the heart of the Ganja city as it is the largest green space in the Ganza City .
alexander nevskiy church :
This aurthodux church was build by a noble man Saint Alexander Nevsky in the year 1887 . It is a russian Orthodox church and one of the oldest in Azerbaizan . It’s interior looks very beautiful .
Outside of the chhurch there is a large open space where you can see lot’s of piegions are roaming around and lot’s of people feed them . The piegions are so friendly that I see a lady taking a pose with one piegion in the head and one piegions in every hand . Nearby there is a large green space .
İmamzadeh İbrahim :
Imamzadeh Ibrahim is a mouseleum of Imamzadeh Ibrahim , a holy person according to the shia islam . There is also a great mosque with blue tiled domes .It has two minerates on the both side of the mosque . This building was build during the 14-15 th century according to the History but the tomb is actually from the 7 th century . It is one of the oldest structure of the city .
This is a walled complex having the decoration of the Azerbaizani architecture . It is a place of Historical as well as religious importance . It is situated 7 km from the city . a specific bus just drop you in front of the complex . In my opinnion this is the best place to visit in terms of it’s size and beauty near Ganja City .
Hayder aliv park :
Hyder aliv park is one of the green space inside the city of Ganja . This spreads across 450 acres . Though it was founded in 1979 but it was opened for the general public in the year 2014 . It was named as the first secretary of the Azerbaizani communist SSR Mr Hyder aliv .
This park has over 350000 decorative plants . Inside the park there is a artificial lake , a amphe theatre , youth center and the triumph arches . Inside the park there was statues of the 5 famous poets among them one of them is Nizami Gajnavi .
His influence was such that still in his name lot’s of government building and institutions and finally the Baku international Airport is also named .
lake göygöl :
Lake goygol was crreated in 1139 when a deep earthquake stoops the flow of the river aghsu and in the lap of mount Kapaz and created a natural dam . The water of this lake is crystal clear and have clear visibility upto 8-10 meter .
It has been situated inside the Goygol Nation park which is situated 45 km from the ganja city . People can enjoy the hiking from the national park gate . This lake is actually in the height of 1500 meter . The whole lake is surrounded by the Kapaz mountain.
The entry fees for the national park is just 2 AZN .
Summary :
Ganja is a Historic city of the Azerbaijan founded in 5 th century . Later lots of rulers like Safavid Dynasty , khanate dynasty and many more ruled here . This is also the second biggest city after Baku in Azerbaijan . It has lot’s of places to visit specially made during the safavid and Khanate dynasty like Imamzadeh Ibrahim , chokak Hammam , shah abbas mosque , karavansaray and Mouseleum of Nizam Gajnavi . Alexender Novorsky church , bottle house and lake Goygol are the other important place in this region . Two days will be enough to explore the city . You can get direct train , Maharashtra and bus from the Baku city . Enjoy the city and it’s surrounding natural beauty .
