Baku Old Town & Oil History Private Walking Tour
Description
We explore the historic heart of Baku on a walking tour. We discover iconic landmarks starting out walk from Fountains Square and the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Icherisheher (Old Town) and then into Istiglaliyyat street and back to Fountains Square. Thematiclly, we welve into the city's rich history, from its medieval origins to its transformation under the influence of oil barons in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. We will learn and have pondered understanding about the social, cultural, and political aspects of Baku's past and present.
Tour Options
Itinerary
Fountains Square is downtown, entertainment and leisure centre in Baku. However, this neighborhood emerged as main trading street of boom town during the first oil boom era, late XIX and early XX century. This is where we meet and end the tour.
Known as Icherisheher, Old Town of Bakuis a UNESCO's World Heritage site. We will walk and stop to offer explanation without entering the sights (Museums of Shirvanshahs Palace and Maiden Tower, Miniature Book Museum Muhammad Mosque and more) with historic photos.
Formerly Nikolayevskaya and Kommunisticheskaya, the Istiglaliyyat Street was one of the main streets of Imperial Russian time Baku. Here we will explore urban transformation that brought by oil barons and their quest for personal glory and fame. The attractions covered along Istiglaliyyat street are: Governor’s Garden, Town Hall, Philharmonic Hall, Palace of Happiness, Institute of Manuscripts of Azerbaijan, Ismaliyya Palace (Muslim Charitable Society), Literature Museum and the statue of Nizami.
This is where one of the evironment built during Baku's expansion beyond the fortess wall. The story of the garden will be linked to a book titled as Ali and Nino.
Baku Town Hall is one of the monumental architectural landmark from Oil Boom Era. It allows to understand architectural influences from Europe and impact that cosmopolitan and diverse groups of people had on Baku.
This is a story about an Oil Baron and his wife whose love story retold when people get married in their mansion which serves as marriage registry today.
This is a story about first secular school for Muslim Women and the process of modernization in Baku and ultimately Azerbaijan's first independence.
This is a story of an Oil Baron who commision a Palace in the memory of his son that becomes an important architectural landmark designed in Venetian Gothic Style.
The walking tour ends at Fountains Square.
Highlights
What's included
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Service animals allowed
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
Reviews(238)
We had Gani as a guide for tour #3 in 1.5 days and I’m so happy we booked this tour. We saw our favorite garden in all of Baku that seems hardly noted despite its proximity to the Old City and ventured outside the center of Baku to see places we wouldn’t have gone to on our own, including the bridge in the White City, for a different view of Baku. Oil is such an important element that I feel this is one of the best tours one could take to learn about the evolution of Baku.
Gani was a great guide to a city with many histories.
Beware of booking same day. Though it shows available they still may cancel on you... Not sure why they just don't update their time in advance needed for booking, that would solve this issue
Ali provided the best tour I have ever experienced with Viator. He is extremely knowledgeable, extremely personable and the way he delivers all the information he is providing is so conversational! I saw some great sites in Baku and learned a lot. His English is also excellent and he speaks 7 other languages. Thank you for a wonderful experience!!
Gani was great. He is obviously very knowledgeable about Baku and Azerbaijan’s history. We enjoyed the tour very much and would highly recommend to anyone visiting Baku.
We did the walking tour and the half day trip to the mud volcanoes with Gani and Eldar. We thoroughly enjoyed both and would highly recommend. We enjoyed the sites but also the discussion with Gani and Eldar about geo politics. They are both very well informed and happy to talk about local politics.
We recently enjoyed a wonderful walking tour of Baku old city. Our guide, Gani, really brought the tour to life with his fantastic historical perspective and deep knowledge of Baku and Azerbaijan. This tour is a superb introduction to Baku and every visitor should aim to do this tour first thing when they arrive in the city - it provides an excellent overview of the key sights to visit and provides immediate orientation around the maze of streets and alleyways in the old city.
The guide has told us a lot of interesting stories about Baku,the tour was a perfect way to get to know the city. After the tour guide provided us with some useful recommendations about food,Azerbaijani phrases and things to see next
Fantastic tour, highly recommended. We had Gani as our tour guide, he was very knowledgeable and conducted the tour at a perfect pace. Even though we thought we had seen most of this area of Baku we found a few hidden gems and it was really interesting to hear the history of this part of Baku. I really enjoyed seeing some old photos of the city to see how it had developed so quickly at certain points in history. If you're visiting I would definitely say this is a very worthwhile tour.
Gani was very informative and helpful. We explored and took photos the uniqueness of Old Town Baku. All places is well maintaned and clean.
