QUBA

1) Apple Festival
Apple Festival is a cultural festival that is celebrated annually in Guba, Azerbaijan on the days of
harvesting apples.

The inaugural event was held in 2012. The festival features Azerbaijani fruit-cuisine mainly the apples
from Quba. Although the holiday is called "Apple Feast", it is dedicated not only to apples, but to other
fruit crops.

On the days of the holiday, in the city of Quba - the horticultural center of Azerbaijan, exhibitions are
held where gardeners demonstrate different varieties of apples and various products from them.

2) Khinaliq Village
The village Khinalig is one of the most popular highland villages in the area.The village bears the
unspoken name of an open-air museum. It is included in the UNESCO World Heritage List as a world
historical monument.

The Khinalug people are the descendants of the population of ancient Caucasian Albania. The first
mention of them in written sources dates back to the 18th century. Until the 19th century, Khinalyg was
part of the Shirvan khanate, and from the second half of the 18th century, the Guba khanate.

There are about 380 houses in the village, the age of which is about 200-300 years. Since the village is
officially a museum and a nature reserve, the construction of new buildings in this area is prohibited by
law. A large number of tourists come to the Khinalig village every year, both from Azerbaijan and from
other states. It is interesting that the locals speak their own language, which is not common anywhere
else. In addition, they have their own special culture and way of life. Many foreigners try to learn the
local language with varying levels of success.
 There is no hotel in the village, so visiting tourists agree on accommodation and rest with local
residents. Many of them have no problem renting rooms in their homes for visiting tourists. However,
please note that in the warm season the number of tourists is significant, so it is advisable to agree on
renting housing in advance.

SHEKİ
1) Albanian Churches in Sheki
In one of the oldest villages on the territory of modern Azerbaijan - Kish, there is a unique architectural
monument - a temple of the times of Caucasian Albania. The current building of the Church of St. Elisha
was erected in the X-XII centuries. At the same time, according to a number of historians, the temple in
Kish stands on the very spot where Equal-to-the-Apostles Elisha founded the first church. That is why
the temple in Kish was often called the Mother of churches in the Caucasus.

Elisha was one of the first preachers of Christianity in the Caucasus. Elisha traveled throughout the
Caucasus, and in the 1st century AD, he founded a church on the site of the current church in the village
of Kish.

The ancient temple in the village of Kish is beautiful in its strict Spartan beauty. The masonry building is
lined with carefully crafted slabs.

The Church of St. Elisha in the village of Kish is one of the most frequently visited by tourists monuments
of the centuries-old Christian culture of the Transcaucasian region.
2) Palace of the Sheki Khans
The Palace of Sheki Khans is the former residence of the Sheki Khans, located in Azerbaijan, in the city of
Sheki, now it is a museum. A monument of history and culture of world importance, which is part of the
state historical and architectural reserve "Yukhary Bash". The building of the palace, built in the 18th
century in the Persian style, is located in the elevated north-eastern part of the city on the territory
enclosed by fortress walls.
3)Sheki Drama Theatre
The theater started to operate in 1976, with a first staged play "The comsomol poem" by Samad Vurgun.
Even though theater staged many famous plays such as "The Tale of the Bear, the winner of the
robbers", "Meteor", Nameless star, etc. theater got awards for performances "Masters", "Tiger and
Hyena", "Arthur Wini’s career" in Bulgarian Dramatic art festival. In 1984 the theater had a tour in
Moscow.

In 1985, the theater went to European tours in Sofia, Berlin, Prague, Budapest, and Bucharest. Despite
fame and success, the theater had financial difficulties in the 1990s and was going through hard times.

GANJA
1)Bottle House
Bottle House is an unusual private residence in Ganja built from glass bottles.

Two-storey bottle house was built by Ibrahim Jafarov, a resident of Ganja in 1966-67 from glass bottles
of different shapes and sizes, and colorful stones brought from Sochi. 48000 bottles were used in
construction.

The construction of this house was dedicated to the memory of Ibrahim Jafarov's brother who went
missing during World War II.

The house was reconstructed recently and is a popular destination for citizens and tourists.
3)Nizami Ganjavi
Abu Mohammed Ilyas ibn Yusuf, known under the pseudonym Nizami Ganjavi, is a classic of Azerbaijani
poetry, one of the greatest poets of the medieval East, the largest romantic poet in Persian epic
literature, who brought colloquial speech and realistic style to Azerbaijan epic poetry.

The exact date of Nizami's birth is unknown. It is only known that Nizami was born between 1140-1146
(535-540) years.

Little information has been preserved about Nizami's life, but it is known for sure that he was not a court
poet, as he feared that in such a role he would lose honesty, and above all he wanted freedom of
creativity. At the same time, following the tradition, Nizami dedicated his works to rulers from various
dynasties. So, Nizami dedicated the poem “Leyli and Majnun” to the Shirvanshahs, and the poem
“Seven Beauties” to the rival of the Ildegizids, one of the atabeys of Maraga (Ahmadilids) Ala al-Din.

Information about the date of his death is as contradictory as the evidence about the date of his birth.
Medieval biographers indicate different data, differing in determining the year of Nizami's death by
about 37 years (575-613/1180-1217). What is known for sure now is that Nizami died in the 13th
century.