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Baku Fortress Wall


Baku Fortress (Azerbaijani: Bakı Qalası) is the largest of Absheron fortresses. The fortress consists of the Icheri Sheher and the walls and towers surrounding it, and 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 a main tower - quadrangular castle. This fortress is called "armory" in the nation's etiology. The peculiarity of 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.

Baku, in fact, Icheri Sheher was the capital of Shirvanshahs state several times. For the first time, this incident took place in 1191 when Shirvanshah Akhsitan I moved here with her palace after the terrible earthquake in Shamakhi. Akhsitan I paid special attention to the construction of cities and castles. As a result of his efforts, the complex structure of defense structures in the Absheron peninsula was strengthened, and Baku strongly consolidated it. All this played a crucial role in the attack of Russian Navy Bandits in Baku. The Russians were defeated and their ships were destroyed. The second time Baku became the capital city during the reign of Shirvanshah I Ibrahim. In 1608-1609, Baku judge Zulfugar Khan constructed the second line of 10-12 meters from the old fortifications.


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Wikipedia

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