Oil-boom buildings
Carved façades, lit at night.
Sefer azeri — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Sefer azeri — CC BY-SA 4.0 · User:Farizabasov — CC BY-SA 3.0 · shankar s. from Dubai, united arab emirates — CC BY 2.0 · Samir Rəsulov — Public domain
Baku's best-known shopping and strolling street, running about three and a half kilometres through the centre; its most famous stretch is the pedestrian section around Fountains Square, which locals call Torgovaya, trade street. It is named after the poet Nizami Ganjavi, Azerbaijan's greatest twelfth-century poet. It is lined with grand buildings from the late nineteenth and early twentieth-century oil boom, with carved stone façades, iron balconies and European ornament, their ground floors holding international brands, cafés and restaurants. In the evening the façades are lit and it becomes one of Baku's loveliest walks, a short way from the old city and the seafront boulevard. Wandering is always free. Baku has many halal restaurants, as most Azerbaijanis are Muslim, and Azerbaijani food such as kebabs, plov and dolma is easy to find around the street. Big-store prices are higher; shops in the side lanes are cheaper. Walk it in the evening from Fountains Square, then head down to the Baku Boulevard to see the illuminated Flame Towers.
Carved façades, lit at night.
Pedestrian, by Fountains Square.
And the old city.
Central Baku, from Fountains Square into the modern city
Fountains Square and Nizami StreetThe liveliest square in central Baku, stretching from the Old City walls to Niza2 minutes walk4.5
Old City of Baku (Icherisheher)Baku's historic heart, a walled town on a hill above the Caspian bay, known in A5 minutes walk4.6
Baku BoulevardA long promenade along Baku's waterfront, running parallel to the Caspian shore 8 minutes walk4.8
Maiden TowerA massive twelfth-century stone tower in Baku's Old City, known in Azerbaijani a8 minutes walk4.5
Palace of the ShirvanshahsA fifteenth-century palace complex in the upper part of Baku's Old City, built b9 minutes walk4.5Yes: most Azerbaijanis are Muslim, and halal restaurants and Azerbaijani dishes are easy to find around the street.