Icherisheher archeology

      The main responsibilities of Administration of the State Historical Architectural Reserve Icherisehehr are to preserve the architectural monuments,explore and  propogate cultural heritage to future generations as well as to develop tourism sector. The Reserve Department, following the protection regime, determines the recreational area, as well as conducts archeological rescue operations.   With an aim of investigate the history of ancient Baku, rescuing archaeological exploration is carried out   to explore monuments that have been left undetermined and have not been investigated yet. In recent years, significant  works have been done in the tourism infrastructure of Icherisheher. Two centuries ago, the ancient city of Baku, called Icheri Sheher, has now become a modern tourist center. Architectural monuments and historical sites which were investigated by the Reserve Department  are conserved and used for tourism purposes. Historical-architectural monuments discovered as a result of archaeological excavations in the area can be mentioned as an example.

Arched religious and architectural complex 

In 1964 ,during the archaeological investigations held in the north part of the Maiden Tower, was discovered arched monument having an interesting structure. This significant monument is the religious-architectural complex colonnade with pointed arches which  constructed for religious purposes and dating back to the XII century. Among the gravestones  which found in the courtyard of the 15th century monument existed pre-islamic burial places.The location of the monument on several cultural layers  indicates its ancestry and  place of worship for centuries. Currently, there is the open-air exposition called “Art of stone carving” . The exposition shows   the history of the monument, the initial steps of artistic stone art, epigraphy, burial ceremonies, as well as  symbol and inscription  of gravestones.

The temple of  “Three religion”

There were numerous fire temples around the Maiden Tower.  One of them is Zoroastrianism ( the state religion of Sassanid Empire)fire worshipping temple which dates back to  IV century.The ancient city was a place of confluence of different religions throughout history. In different periods, religious beliefs-Zoroastrianism, Christianity, Islam influenced each other and numerous monuments were built.

Archeological excavations are  currently going  here to explore the monument that has not been fully explored.

Underground ways

There is a lot of information regarding the existence of underground ways constructed in the medieval cities and towers of Azerbaijan. While constructing protective bastions in Baku city the underground ways were constructed together with powerful towers as an integral part of the fortress wall in order to store the firmness and power of the walls and simplify the protection system. Namely for this purpose, an underground way was constructed in the internal part of the northern fortress walls lasting till the Gosha Gala gates, envisaged for the comfortable movement of soldiers.  Underground wayd dates back to the XII century.

         Mosque and mosque yard – chapel

 In order to investigate the religious complex near the Maiden Tower a mosque belonging to 9th century and existence of two premises was discovered during short-term archaeological investigations in this territory in 1998 .There is a kufi epitaph consisting of two words written in ancient Arabian alphabet on the mosque chapel. The epitaph says: “Power belongs to the God”. The investigators consider this epitaph to belong to 8th- 9th centuries according to comparative analysis and handwriting style.

The remains of the church and construction

One of the most interesting monuments near the Maiden Tower is remain of constructions  which dates back to medieval centuries.In 1815 St.Bartholomew's cathedral appeared near the Maiden's Tower. According to the legend, St. Bartholomew, one of  Christ`s twelve apostles, was the best-known of the preachers of the Jesus  who had ever set foot on the land of Azerbaijan in the IV century. The remains of that church are still preserved.

 The remains of bathhouse

The Shah bath in the lower courtyard of the Shirvanshahs palace, over time, has been completely covered with soil by the nature and human factor. Afterwards, the bathhouse was restored and put into tourist route service.   

Underground bathhouse

 During the reconstruction and archaeological excavations near the Gosha Gala  square , the remais  of the underground bath- house belonging to the middle ages were discovered in 2016. Gradually, the thickness of the ground layer increased and completely covered it. According to scientists, at that period custom baths were functioned and people  were permitted to enter the city only upon being cleaned. It proves that sanitary and hygienic requirements were maintained in Baku in the middle ages. Most likely, this bath-house  also  served  Baku customs.The monument is currently being restored and conserved.

The remains of water wells and underground water-supply  system   

The results of archaeological excavations show that underground water supply system have been used  in Baku since 9th century. At that period, water wells provided  city’s water supply. In the XIV-XV centuries the water system was enhanced and improved gradually.

     According to the construction works a lot of  water wells were discovered. Water wells are conserved and maintained by the Icherisheher Administration. An interesting underground architectural building - a waterway was found around the  Maiden Tower, carefully drawn from pottery pipes. Currently, these water pipes belonging to the XII-XIII centuries are demonstrated at the Maiden Tower exposition. Most of the items found during archaeological excavations in the Icherisheher  territory are pottery and enameled wares. During the excavations works  other items made of iron, copper and glass, as well as a large number of copper coins were discovered  . Currently, these archaeological finds are preserved in the fund of the Icherisheher Historical Museum.