Baku. Travel by Nivine Maktabi. the City of Winds. Prestige Novembre

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1 Travel by Nivine Maktabi Baku the City of Winds Heyder Aliyev Center designed by Zaha Hadid. Should I call it the City of Caviar, Oil and Gaz or the land of Caucasian Carpets? It was in May, right after Beirut Designers Week, when I packed a small suitcase and I am specifying small as I admit it was a big mistake to try and travel light for a change. I was flying to Baku, capital of Azerbaijan, a city which name s always fascinated me. In fact, for me, Azerbaijan, the home of the Caucasus, is a name I only crossed in my readings and specially when researching on Caucasian carpets. 4 am was the take off; of course I was sleepy and slept on both connecting flights, from Beirut to Istanbul and Istanbul to Baku. As it is not yet a popular touristic destination, most passengers were either locals or Turkish and around one or two foreigners I would assume working for a petroleum company, BT or alike. Upon arrival, the sun was blinding and a line of black cabs were filling the pavement outside the airport. Seeing a London cab automatically put a smile on my face. However the color of the cab was purple and the steering wheel on the left, contrary to the English black cab. Oil tanks in the middle of the sea. I headed to Fairmont Hotel, known as the Flame towers, the tallest and biggest three skyscrapers in the city. An impressive architecture overlooking the city and the Caspian Sea was awaiting me. Due to my several travels to carpet manufacturing countries, Azerbaijan was actually a big surprise, very different from what I imagined it. While still in the taxi, at some point I thought I was in Dubai, then some of the buildings and highways reminded me of St Petersburg and then again the boulevards resembled Paris. So in a way, the city didn t have an identity yet again it was impressive with all the nicely new mansions, cleanliness, greenery and seaside. In short, it is a very modern city with a lot of glamour and grandiose. Prestige Novembre

2 Travel Shahid Square next to Parliament in Baku. Here I am at Fairmont, a very contemporary hotel with a remarkable chandelier in the center of the lobby s high ceiling and a state of the art, ESPA-Spa spreading over 3 floors. As for my room, it was just amazing on the 13 th floor overlooking the Caspian Sea and was so thrilled when I saw the Rolled Carpet Museum by the glass window panel. I couldn t get enough of the spectacular views of the Caspian Sea and Baku s skyline. Like with every new country I visit, a bit of history is always good. I was touring the capital with Chirine, my childhood friend and learnt some facts from Subhan, our guide. In brief, located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, Baku is the capital and the largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. It is bordered by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Turkey and Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west and Iran to the south. Inside the incredible Heydar Aliyev Center designed by Zaha Hadid. According to Subhan, most tourists come mainly from Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Russia, Japan, Turkey, Spain and Iran. As for visa regulations, most CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States) countries can enter with no visas including Israel and Turkey, they have the opportunity to obtain visas in Azerbaijan international airports (Baku, Ganja, Nakhichevan) upon arrival. The official languages used in the country are Azeri and Turkish and not Russian. The Independence Baku is one of the largest industrial and cultural centers in the East, but it is also the first Muslim-majority country (95% are Shiia-Muslim and the rest are Christians and Jews) to have operas, theaters and plays, i.e.: Puppet Theater and the Philharmonic Hall that was constructed throughout at the request of the city elite. In fact, it is incredible to learn that the literacy rate is 99% in the country. In 1918, the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic was established, the date of Azerbaijan first independence from Royal Russia but was incorporated into the Soviet Union in 1920 as the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic. Azerbaijan regained independence in 1991 and returned their flag and hence it was the year of their 2 nd independence. The Flag is in equal stripes of blue, red and green, as picture: blue meaning the influence of the Turkish culture, red as the European democracy and modernity and green representing the Islamic civilization. Outside Zaha Hadid project in Baku. Prestige Novembre

3 Travel by Nivine Maktabi Museum of Modern Art Moma in Baku, painted by wife of President, Mehriban Aliyev. My room came with this spectacular view on the Caspian Sea and the Rolled Carpet Museum. Discovering history and culture with a modern twist. Places to visit Rolling chair carpet design. I was surprised to learn about the Black January, a massacre in the end of the 20 th century where one million people gathered in Independence Square to get their autonomy from USSR. However, they were killed by Gorbatchev tanks of Red Army. Hence the name the Black 20 January when 169 people sacrificed their lives and were later buried in the military cemetery. Black January also known as Black Saturday or the January Massacre was a violent crackdown in Baku on January 19-20, 1990, pursuant to a state of emergency during the dissolution of the Soviet Union. According to the decree of the president of Azerbaijan Heydar Aliyev from December 16, 1999, all victims of the crackdown were awarded an honorary title of the «Martyr of January 20». Heydar Aliyev was the president of the country till his death in His son Elham Aliyev succeeded him. (His wife Mehriban and daughter Layla are very active and big entrepreneurs). The Shahid Square is a must see as you will visit Black January martyrs eternal flame memorial. It is located right across the Fairmont Hotel, walking distance from the Parliament and opposite the Funicular (similar to the ones in Swiss mountains) taking you right across the new Carpet museum. Azerbaijan history can be divided between the medieval era and the modern and oil era. For those interested to learn more about Baku oil boom and history (Jewish, Persian and Russian influence), I recommend to read «the Orientalist» by Tom Reiss, a fascinating novel. The first attraction we visited was the Heydar Aliyev Center developed and designed by renowned architect Zaha Hadid. The construction of the Center s facility was launched in 2007 and completed in 2012 to celebrate the National Leader s 89 th anniversary. Recognized as one of the world s masterpieces in architecture, the Heydar Aliyev Center has immediately grown into a signature architectural landmark of modern Baku. From the outside, the construction looks like waves, some say the signature of the president but in fact it is just a unique superb architecture. The Curved architecture includes Conference center, museum, park and a library. It is quite impressive and very futuristic. I really loved it and loved the different exhibitions on display. It encompasses 3 sections: The Heydar Aliyev Museum The Exhibition Halls. This section occupies 9 floors with exhibition halls, administrative office and a spacious white super modern cafeteria. The Auditorium. This section of 4 levels embraces 2 multifunctional conference halls, meeting rooms and the media center. The modern Azerbaijan is recognized in the world through its nationwide leader Heydar Aliyev. And the Center bearing the name of Heydar Aliyev has become a symbol of modern Azerbaijan and modern Baku. In addition, apparently both the beautiful first lady Mehriban ( and her attractive daughter Layla are talented painters and exhibit their art works in both Heydar Aliyev Center and the Moma, museum of modern art. Moma is the modern art museum. In March 2009 by the initiative of first lady Mehriban Aliyeva and with the support of the Heydar Aliyev Fund, the Museum of Modern Art has been opened in Baku, by Port Baku. The museum basis is the collection of the best works of painting and sculpture of Azerbaijan avant-guardists from 2 nd half of the 20 th century up to now. Prestige Novembre

4 Travel Palace» and many typical restaurants such as Karavan Sarai, Art Garden, however we ended up in «Mankal». We placed our order with practically signing and drawing because no waiter knew a word of English, I even tried to speak Farsi hoping it may mean something to them. My favorite dish was their traditional Lahem bi Ajin called «Kutab» that comes with ingredients, meat, spinach or cheese. Port Baku the new downtown of Baku on the Harbour. Port Baku is where you will find the new high-rise, i.e.: Trump Towers, new hotels, new shops, new restaurants by the harbor. It is their «Zaytounay bay» on a larger scale or maybe «Chelsea Harbour» in London. Many of BP employees reside there. It is no surprise to see mainly foreigners as cafes and shops like Paul, WHSmith are currently open and not far from «Park bulvar», the biggest shopping mall. To tour the city, it was fun going on the sightseeing bus. The bus drove on all boulevards and the main Boulevard Square opposite the Four Seasons hotel, where all high end boutiques are (I didn t expect to come across all the high street Italian and French fashion brands and jewellery like De Beers and Tiffany s) and facing a beautiful greenery scene overlooking the Caspian Sea. It is like walking along Lac Leman in Geneva, especially that it has a small jet d eau that lights up at night. It is a peaceful scenery, clean, very modern and contemporary overlooking the sea. One of the fascinating stories was learning that Azerbaijan had the biggest flag in the world before Tajikistan executed theirs which is the world s biggest now, leaving Baku 2 nd in line measuring 7m by 35m. Like in every country, one always makes time for the «ritual»: shopping and that was fun as again I had to sign language for the right size and colour in «Fountain Square», the vibrant and colorful shopping area. Later that night, we wanted to pamper ourselves and go for a fine dining treat. Destination was «Chinar», Nobu and Zuma s alike. We took the funicular from «Shahid Square» opposite the Fairmont and landed literally at the doorstep of «Chinar». I was delighted when I tasted my favorite succulent black cod dish. The unusual scene was that on their outdoor terrace shisha was served with the sushi rolls and dumplings nibbles. I would say a bit of a modern meeting local habits. It is in fact owned by Layla Aliyev, the president s daughter. She also owns a number of other modern restaurants in the city and on the sea shore like «Mugham» Azeri cuisine and «Tora» Italian cuisine. On the weekend we wanted to be adventurous and decided to discover the Mud Volcanoes and Gobustan outside Baku. Gobustan Rock Art Cultural Landscape is a hill and moun- Subhan also pointed out at a huge stadium where in 2013 Beyonce, Shakira, JLO were among the famous singers who came for 2012 Euro Vision song contest and that in 2015 European Games will be held in Baku. I was also amazed to know that James Bond movie «The world is not enough» was filmed in Baku in My second stop on foot was at Maiden Tower, the old city, a pedestrian area surrounded by old tiny houses. Most shops carry Caucasian carpets and a lot of imported art craft from Turkey, their neighboring country. Besides the carpet shops, there was this amazing modern gallery featuring all local talented designers art works from paintings to sculptures and not cheap if I may say. Prices were mentioned in dollars and euros. I browsed in most shops and was very happy testing my knowledge on all Caucasian carpets names and origins. My favorite and weak point remained for the Karabagh Gul Farang carpet, Savonnerie design. In addition, there were a number of boutique hotels like «Shah On carpets in old city Maiden Tower. Prestige Novembre

5 Travel by Nivine Maktabi Mud volcano in Baku. Adventurous road trip outside Baku: UNESCO World Heritage list. Mud Volcanoes I learnt that Azerbaijan and its Caspian coastline are home to nearly 400 mud volcanoes, more than half the total throughout the world. In 2001, one mud volcano, 15km from Baku, made world headlines when it suddenly started ejecting flames 15 meters high. It was a unique experience as the place was deserted and roads were very remote. The fun part was hearing the mud ejecting and feeling it as it is surprisingly cool unlike the bubbling boiling lava. Our next stop was Gobustan. Meanwhile on the road, you cannot but notice the crude oil tankers on the highways and in the middle of the sea. In addition, a huge project, «Khazar Island» was under construction, you may compare it to the Palm Dubai or the Pearl in Qatar however on a bigger scale with all its residential compounds and villas overlooking the Caspian Sea. Chilling on the rock on top of the world in Gobustan. On my way to Gobustan. tain site occupying the southeast end of the Greater Caucasus mountain ridge in Azerbaijan, about 40 miles (64km) southwest of the centre of Baku on the west bank of the Caspian Sea. In 2007 Gobustan was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site considered to be of «outstanding universal value» for the quality and density of its rock art engravings, for the substantial evidence the collection of rock art images presents of hunting, dancing and lifestyles scenes in pre-historic and medieval times that the site reflects, which I enjoyed climbing. For more activities one can assist to an Opera or Ballet Theatre at the opera house and philharmonic hall or take a boat trip on Seaside Boulevard, however do not expect to visit oil rocks unless you are lucky to get a government permission to enter the offshore city.

6 Travel With Amina my guide and a customised portrait carpet of the late president. Antique Caucasian carpets in the museum. In front of the new Rolled Carpet Museum. With Nargis weaving for 32 years. Caucasian carpets Have you noticed I did not mention about the Caucasian carpets? Well I want to save the best for last. Azerbaijan is the land of Caucasian rugs. The rugs are mainly of repetitive geometric stylized patterns and very symbolic like stylized dragon, tree of life, cloud bands, cypress tree, eight point medallions, water canals, double headed animals These motifs are often mystical symbols of life and of the immortality of the soul. There are several schools of carpet weaving in the country, which are distinguished by patterns, colour palette and composition of carpets, such as Guba, Shirvan, Nakhchivan, Kazak, Karabakh and Tabriz carpet-making schools. The distinction is very similar not only with rugs but also with dresses and music instruments. Each tribe and area has distinguished traditional outfits and music instruments, very typical for each group. This craft was highly connected to the daily life of the population, traditional song performances during the Nohruz holiday, the local New Year, with carpets being used as a home decoration and part of furniture. Wonderful Azerbaijani carpets are represented in two types: piled and pileless. Pileless carpets in other terms, flatweaves Kelims are of many kinds, the most famous of which are Djajim, Zili, and Soumakh. From the famous piled or knotted carpets are the Kazak carpets like Seykhour, Borchali, Chonzorek, Fakhralo, Chelaberd, Leshgi, Talish, Shikli rugs, pronounces differently according to villages and mountains. Carpet-weaving art is one of the ancient crafts in Azerbaijan. For centuries the Land of Fire (as the word «Azar» in Farsi means fire), has been famous for its unique carpets, which nowadays are exhibited in many world museums - in the Louvre in Paris, in the Hermitage in Saint-Petersburg, in the Victoria and Albert in London, in the Textile museum in Washington, in the Topkapi museum in Istanbul... The new carpet museum designed in the form of a rolled carpet opened end of August in the Baku seaside park (boulevard). Therefore, for those wondering, Yes I will be visiting Baku again Prestige Novembre