Architecture of Baku

I'll start off by saying I don't know a thing about architecture.  But I think Baku has many beautiful buildings and - especially for those of you reading my blog from afar - I'd like to highlight some of my favorites and share what I think they say about Baku as a city.

First and foremost are the Flame Towers.  Built on a hill, they are visible from many parts of central Baku.  The Flame Towers epitomize the modern transformation of the city, which lights up each night in a rainbow of neon colors.  Some say Baku is trying to be like Dubai, with ever more unique buildings ever under construction.  There are those who feel the Flame Towers symbolize much of what is wrong with Baku - flashy, half-vacant buildings that distract from the real difficulties of the average Bakuian's life.  Politics aside, I think the Flame Towers are beautiful.  I feel lucky to see them every day when I drive home from work and it always brings me joy to see them lit up at night.

Erica and Jeremy with Flame Towers

Flame Towers light up with different images -
for example the checkered flag during the recent
Formula One Grand Prix

The Flame Towers towering over Baku

Also symbolizing modern Baku is the Heydar Aliyev Center.  The pictures below simply do not do justice to the white, swooping grandeur of the building.  The entire building is seemingly continuous curved lines with few straight edges or corners.  Inside is a multi-floor exhibit on Heydar Aliyev, the late president of Azerbaijan who brought stability to the post-Soviet era.  Just to give you a sense of the importance of Heydar Aliyev to Azerbaijan, a holiday on June 15 called National Salvation Day celebrates the day Heydar came to Baku to join the newly-independent government in 1993.  There are innumerable buildings, parks, museums, and streets named after Heydar Aliyev throughout the country.

Jeremy contemplating Heydar Aliyev Center's swirling lines

Side view of Heydar Aliyev Center

Another new building in Baku is the carpet museum.  The museum collection used to be housed elsewhere, but now has a new home in a fabulous building designed to look like a rolled-up carpet.  Azerbaijanis are rightly proud of their carpet-making tradition - Azerbaijani carpet weaving was designated a unique Intangible Cultural Heritage by UNESCO in 2010. The new museum has prime real estate on the Bulvar promenade along the Caspian Sea, where tourists are sure to see it. 

Jeremy at the Carpet Museum

Turning to older buildings, my favorites is the National Academy of Sciences building.  It was built by one of Baku's oil barons during the city's first oil boom at the turn of the 20th century.  The ornate style is emblematic of the oil-boom mansions built at this time, and this building has the added benefit of fabulous colorful mosaics. 

Erica at the National Academy of Sciences

Finally, there is the Heydar Aliyev Foundation building...yes, Heydar again.  This building may look very simple and boring, but it caught my eye from my very first weeks in Baku.  Although it may be hard to see in the below photo, it has beautiful, detailed stonework on the facade.  This type of stonework, as well as the beige stone color, is found throughout the city, and is the architectural style that stands out the most to me as embodying Baku.

Erica & Jeremy hug at Heydar Aliyev Foundation

I hope you've enjoyed my completely biased, totally uneducated architectural tour of Baku!

Mother Russia

With Azerbaijan sharing a border with Russia, I couldn't pass up the opportunity of being so close and not visiting.  We specifically planned our trip for summertime, when the weather would be more bearable.  And after several people told us how beautiful St. Petersburg was, we chose to visit both Moscow and St. Petersburg.

Unfortunately, Mother Nature foiled our plans.  Instead of summer weather, we arrived in St. Petersburg to a dreary, chilly, windy weekend.  The wind was especially harsh near the water...and pretty much all the major sites were near the water. We did our best to forge ahead with our sightseeing plans, but breathed a sigh of relief whenever we headed inland and an even bigger sigh when we got to Moscow, where the weather was beautiful.

Erica bundled up against the wind at Peterhof Palace

Somehow we had this idea in our heads that Russia, and especially Moscow, would be ugly.  I pictured streets filled with ugly, bland Soviet apartment buildings.  If you've never been to a post-Soviet country, think of the Brutalist, colorless concrete architecture of the mid-20th century and you'll have an idea of what we were expecting.  But we were pleasantly surprised to find the architecture of St. Petersburg and Moscow to be beautiful and colorful.

Erica on the Arbat in Moscow

Although we did not go to any shows of the official arts scene of Russia, we stumbled upon several performances during our wonderings.  All were wonderful and very different.  While in St. Petersburg, we were strolling through a park and came across an a cappella men's choral group.  The group performed a fun selection of tunes in Russian, English, and French.

Men's a cappella group in St. Petersburg's Mikhailosky Park 

While inside St. Basil's Cathedral in Moscow's Red Square, we suddenly heard voices singing and followed the sounds to a side chapel where we were treated to a stunning chant concert from a men's choral group.

Jeremy at St. Basil's Cathedral in Red Square

And we saw a fabulous brass band performing on the streets of Moscow.  They danced along to their pieces, including a Michael Jackson medley complete with the Thriller dance.  While all this may sound run-of-the-mill to Americans, bear in mind that street performers do not exist in Azerbaijan, so just happening upon live music is a rare event in our lives these days and it brought me great joy.

Dancing brass band in Moscow's Kuznetsky Most area

Another recurring theme of the trip was silly photos.  Enjoy the below selection of the best ones!

On the boat through the Gulf of Finland to Peterhof Palace

On a dinner cruise on Moscow River

Red Square at night