Alley of Shaheeds. Upland Park and Alley of Martyrs Şəhidlər Xiyabanı - Alley of Martyrs

I already briefly talked about this evening in Baku in my first note about this amazing city. Baku is the city of winds and flames. Pearl of the Caspian Sea. After the ball...

So we climbed the endless stairs.

There was no end to it. This is probably the longest staircase in my life.

We climbed not out of love for sports, but because the funicular (as luck would have it) treacherously did not work.
So that life does not seem like honey to travelers, Azerbaijani honey.
At the top, a reward awaited us in the form of flaming Plasma towers.

Like flames hidden in the light of day, pretending to be just huge buildings.

But in fact, these monsters are not the banal three buildings, but real three tongues of flame.

Do you see how the flame plays in its upper part?

The flame can suddenly magically transform into the flag of Azerbaijan.

Or suddenly a man will run by waving this same banner.

It’s just that the towers are completely covered with LED screens that display the movement of fire.
The name and shape of the towers are an allusion to the city's coat of arms, which depicts three flames.

Let's also admire the Sunni Martyrs' Mosque, gloomy in the twilight.

Built with the assistance of Turkey in the early 90s of the last century.
Let's take a walk through Nagorny Park, formerly named after Kirov. Why Kirov?
Yes, because it was Kirov with the Red Army that took this city into the civil war and overthrew the power of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic in 1920.

A huge monument to this revolutionary stood here during Soviet times.

And in 1918, victims of the massacre carried out by the Dashnaks against the Muslim population were buried here.

By the way, a monument to the dead Turks was recently erected here.

The Ottoman army lost 1,130 soldiers during the operation to liberate Baku.

“Today, September 15, marks 98 years since the liberation of Baku by the Caucasian Islamic Army, led by Turkish General Nuri Pasha.
The liberation of Baku from the Armenian-Bolshevik occupation is one of the most valiant pages in the history of Azerbaijan in the 20th century. Ottoman Turkey, despite its difficult situation, sent the Caucasian Islamic Army here to restore the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan."

Then the Menshevik-Dashnak government was overthrown here, and at the same time the British expeditionary force was kicked in the ass. The power of the “legendary 26 Baku commissars”, glorified very incorrectly in Soviet cinema, was ordered to live even earlier.

Bust of twice Hero of the Soviet Union Guard Major General Azi Aslanov, who commanded a tank brigade during Operation Bagration.

Apparently it was destined for this park on the mountain to be more of a cemetery than a park.

In 1990, people who died in the January events of that year were buried here.
That was the time then. It was not only the people of Baku who were deceived by the fashionable false democrats (the Popular Front of Azerbaijan). The entire huge country was wrapped around its finger by numerous popular fronts. And then they brought out the civilians of Baku at gunpoint and under the tracks of tanks.

Black January 1990......

But in modern Azerbaijan they don’t like to remember what preceded this Black January.

And it was preceded by a pogrom and murders of the Armenian population in Baku by the PFA radicals, a pogrom at the television center and the building of the Communist Party, a blockade of military units trying to restore order in the city, the destruction of border barriers on the Iranian border.....

Black January 1990..... Then more than a hundred civilians died.

They all now rest here.

Newlyweds. Died in Black January.

By the way, the success of the leader of the radical democrats Elchibey was temporary. This dissident did not serve as the country's president for long. He was pushed aside and sat down by the former communist Aliyev. There are now monuments to Aliyev all over Baku, his son is the president, he created the Aliyev dynasty.
And who now even remembers who Elchibey is? Are there any on the site?

Does anyone else remember Gamsakhurdia? The same reformer-dissident. He was also pushed forward by the “old fox” Shevardnadze, also a former communist.

As they say, “the hat doesn’t suit Senka.”

Victims of 1918 are also buried here

and the war with Armenia in Karabakh of 1992-1994.

And war veterans in NKAO showed us this sad place.

The fact is that, having climbed the endless stairs, that evening we moved towards the TV tower to look at Baku at night from a great height.

We asked directions from a man watering flower beds with a hose. He introduced himself as a veteran and offered to show us their center. Naturally, we became interested and immediately forgot about the TV tower.

And here we are in this center. We are met by two more veterans.
They treat you to tea and sweets as the best guests.

Tea drinking in Azerbaijan is a whole ritual.
Do you know what it means when the spout of a teapot is turned towards one of the guests?
This is a hint that the presence of such a person here is undesirable. Such subtleties were told to us here, over a glass of Azeri tea.

Of course, during the tea party there was some talk about politics.

Here they told us and showed us a book about the Armenian terror during the hostilities.

The book is full of shocking documentary photos.

Many travelers from our site have already visited NKAO. There are stories from this place on our website.

Who met the travelers in Karabakh? That's right, those who were left with victory then.
That is, the Armenian side. Accordingly, we read the notes from there from the point of view of that side.

I listened to a completely different, opposite side. I was told that Karabakh was originally Azerbaijani territory. But over time, it began to be populated by Armenians, who began to demand some autonomy from Baku.
Autonomy was given.

Is it a pity to give away autonomy in a single country or, say, give Crimea away? Anyway, in the USSR everything was ultimately common. On the collective farm everything is common....

After the collapse of the USSR, Armenians living in NKAO (there suddenly became more of them) began to demand separation from Azerbaijan. Because of this, the war broke out in the 90s, which, of course, was started by the Armenian side. Now this territory formally belongs to the unrecognized independent state of the NKR, but is actually controlled by Armenia.

We heard this simplified version of events from veterans. Either the respected veterans themselves don’t really know the history, or are they deliberately misrepresenting the story to the traveler?

For tourists from Europe, this version will do as well. But we are boring former Soviet people!
And we are interested in history, unlike the flighty Europeans. Does any Dutchman want to delve into the intricate intricacies of the history of a distant, incomprehensible Transcaucasian country?

So.
Arriving home, I was not too lazy to study this topic on the Internet.

It turned out that the Armenian population had lived here from time immemorial. But the situation begins to change in the 18th century.

From Wikipedia:
“As a result of civil strife between Armenian meliks, for the first time in its history, Nagorno-Karabakh found itself under the rule of a Turkic ruler. After these events, from the middle of the 18th century, there was a massive outflow of the Armenian population from Nagorno-Karabakh, and, conversely, Turkic resettlement.

In 1917, due to the collapse of the Russian Empire and the release from the latter’s rule, Karabakh actually became a state governed by the Assembly of Armenians of Karabakh. The Azerbaijanis, building their state, despite the absolute majority of Armenians in the region, challenged the right of Armenians to govern Karabakh. The region became the scene of violent clashes between Azerbaijanis and Armenians for several years. To resolve the territorial dispute in their favor, the Azerbaijanis resorted to the help of the British, Turks and Bolsheviks. With foreign help, Azerbaijan achieved success.
After the Sovietization of Armenia and Azerbaijan, by the decision of the Caucasian Bureau of the Central Committee of the RCP (b) on July 4, 1921, it was decided to transfer Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia, but the final decision was left to the Central Committee of the RCP (b), however, with a new decision of July 5, it was left as part of Azerbaijan with granting broad regional autonomy.

Initially, NKAO bordered on the Armenian SSR, but by the end of the 1930s the common border disappeared.

According to the 1923 census, Armenians made up 94% of the newly formed NKAO; Of the remaining 6%, the overwhelming majority were Azerbaijanis.

During the years of Soviet power, the percentage of the Azerbaijani population of NKAO increased to 21.5% and the Armenian population decreased to 76.9%. Armenian authors explain this by the purposeful policy of the authorities of the Azerbaijan SSR to change the demographic situation in the region in favor of the Azerbaijanis."

The last statement seems fair to me. For example, Heydar Aliyev, who in 1969-1982 served as the first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Azerbaijan SSR, himself admitted this:

“We sent Azerbaijanis from the surrounding areas not to Baku, but there. We opened a large shoe factory there. There was no labor force in Stepanakert itself. We sent Azerbaijanis there from places surrounding the region. By these and other measures, I tried to have more Azerbaijanis in Nagorno-Karabakh , and the number of Armenians has decreased."

But no matter how hard the authorities of the Azerbaijan SSR tried to radically reverse the situation with demography in favor of the Azerbaijanis, they never succeeded.
Before the collapse of the Union of the five districts of Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Okrug, the Azerbaijani population constituted a majority only in the smallest district - Shusha.

And even then, until the beginning of the 20th century, the majority in the Shusha region were Armenians. The vast majority of Shushi's Armenians were killed or fled the city as a result of the Shushi massacre at the end of March 1920.

Do not misunderstand me. I don’t take sides and the united Christian faith has nothing to do with it. I treat all nations equally well. I just really love to write and tell the TRUTH (as it really was).

How did it happen that economically weaker Armenia with a population of 3 million was able to win that war over its more powerful neighbor with a population of 7 million?

I had previously suspected that the Russian Armed Forces did not stand aside as dispassionate observers in this war and supported the Armenian side. Of course, you won’t hear about this in political programs on our zombie box.

My suspicions were confirmed on this trip. Everyone in Azerbaijan knows about Russia’s support for Armenia in the war. The Russian military supported the Armenian side, since our military bases are in this country. Geopolitics....

Veterans of the NKAO also know about Russian assistance and told me about it as tactfully as possible. At the same time, they stated that these are all politicians, and they do not hold a grudge against ordinary Russians (especially travellers-guests).

They offer you tea and smile. They even gave us a booklet about Baku in English as a souvenir.
We also had to “give back.” But there was nothing suitable in our backpacks. They gave me a Russian flag (I hope not to desecrate). The veterans accepted our flag with gratitude, saying that they already had gifts from all over the world in the museum. There will be a place and grow. flag

Photo in the Veterans Museum.

I invited the veterans to take a photo with me with or without the flag of our site, at their choice. Just in case, the veterans decided not to expose themselves (who knows what kind of incomprehensible “turbine” flag this is).

We took a photo for memory without flags and symbols, but with two “great helmsmen” in the background.

Who defrosted the frozen Karabakh volcano and why this spring? Whose side?
I didn’t ask the veterans about this, because I knew their answer in advance. Of course, the Armenian side, the veterans would answer 100%.

In the media, the parties blamed each other.
For me, there was clarity on this issue even before the trip, or rather not clarity, but guesswork. I came to them using logic. My guesses were confirmed after the trip, when fate miraculously brought me together with Azerbaijanis in my city. But I will write about this in the next article, dedicated to the oil miracle of this country.

After listening to the veterans about the atrocities of the Armenian military, I carefully expressed my doubts.

I stated with the greatest possible tact that I had not yet been to Armenia, so it was too early for me to draw final conclusions. However, it seems to me that in Armenia I will hear the same accusations of genocide, but against the Armenians from the Azerbaijani troops.

Without being at all embarrassed, the leader of the three veterans began to make arguments.
From how deftly he presented them, I realized that he had to lay out these arguments often.
As if slightly according to the test, rehearsed.

So, the FIRST argument from a veteran.
All nationalities live in Baku, including even Armenians! No one is touching them here NOW. Does anyone live in Armenia other than the Armenians themselves? As they say, draw your own conclusions.

This is true about Baku. I met a 70-year-old Russian granny in the city. Native Baku.
She confirmed that Russians were never “pressured” in Azerbaijan. Well, maybe only in the early crazy 90s. But then everything was a madhouse. How different this is from the stories of forced migrants from other Soviet republics!

Argument TWO.
There are many Russian-language schools and schools representing other nations in Baku.
And in Armenia? Information about the absence of such schools is confirmed by Aleftina in the note:
Lermontovo and Fioletovo - villages of Russian Molokans in Armenia

Well, the arguments are strong. I admit, I became thoughtful. I didn't know what to say.

When we said goodbye to the veterans, my wife expressed the following thought:
“Since the standard of living in Armenia is the lowest of all three Transcaucasian countries, then representatives of all other peoples left the impoverished country. Only Armenians remained. And since there are few representatives of other peoples in the country, then why schools with the appropriate language?
And, in general, I have a lot of Armenians at work. They are all positive people. But there are no Azerbaijanis, so I don’t know.”

I don't know either. I have not been to Armenia yet. I don't have any answers yet...

After visiting the veterans center, we no longer wanted to go to the tallest tower. One of the war participants volunteered to show us the cemetery on the Alley of Martyrs.

Thus, we first examined the graves of the victims of January 1990, the unidentified bodies, then the victims of the war in Karabakh.

And here is the stele with the Eternal Flame.

Official delegations and presidents of other countries must lay wreaths here.

From the top there are views of the city at night.

On the coast of the Caspian Sea. We will get to know him better in three days.....

Why “Alley of Martyrs,” you ask? Why such a strange name?
After all, we now firmly associate the concept of martyrs with terrorists.

The fact is that in fact, a martyr is a martyr for the faith who died on the battlefield. Later, this name began to be used to refer to all innocent victims who died a violent death.

So it turns out that terrorists have nothing to do with it. This is how, while traveling, the meaning of seemingly well-known names is revealed.

To conclude this note, I’ll tell you about another illustrative story.

A young Armenian works with my wife at the institution. Nice, cheerful fellow. Always jokes and is positive.

When his wife returned to work, he asked how she found it in Baku, like the local Baku people? The wife answered literally the following without a second thought:
"Great city. I liked it."

Apparently, the guy expected to hear something else. Because from that time on, the nice fellow was replaced.
These innocent words were enough for the Armenian to stop smiling at my wife and joking when we met. He, of course, says hello, but now somehow through gritted teeth.

This story is revealing. It clearly shows the level and degree of mutual hostility between the two Transcaucasian peoples.

But we once lived in the same country. Together we defeated fascism, built factories, conquered space.....

And no one cared what your nationality was, as long as you were a real person.
The Communists and the Soviet government managed to freeze interethnic conflicts (the times of perestroika do not count). It turns out that they froze for a short time.

With the collapse of the Union, mutual grievances and endless wars began. Transnistria, Ossetia, Abkhazia, Karabakh, Crimea, Donetsk.........

It is now 25 years since the collapse of the country. Today Putin has appointed those responsible for this collapse - the CPSU. rurik-l.livejournal.com Quite a controversial statement if you remember the State Emergency Committee and the support of this putsch by the CPSU.

The collapse of a country consisting of sister republics, the greatest injustice and stupidity committed by politicians of the 20th century...

Is not it so?

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The word "shahid" is alarming. In my mind it is associated with terrorists and religious fanatics. As a rule, suicide bombers are called this word, and even explosives are called “suicide belts.” When I saw an unexpected object on the city map, I almost choked. Of course, I went to Nagorny Park to see what this alley was like.

Alley of Martyrs is a cemetery where victims of Black January and those killed during the Karabakh War are buried. “Black January” is called January 1990, or rather the events of the night from the 19th to the 20th, when Soviet troops were brought into Baku. The political opposition held rallies and escalated the situation, all this against the background of the Karabakh conflict and the Armenian pogroms. The situation escalated to the limit, and it was decided to stop it by force. As a result of the clash, 126 Azerbaijanis were killed. They were buried as heroes of the struggle for independence on the Alley of Martyrs in Nagorny Park. At that time it was called Kirov Park. I created a naviaaddress for this place - https://naviaddress.com/994/949393

Memorial. An eternal flame burns inside.

Since the park is located on a mountain, the Alley of Martyrs is located in terraces. There are three, four or five of these “floors”.

Shahid is a martyr who accepted death, fighting in the name of Allah, defending his faith, homeland, honor, family. Chairman of the Council of Muftis of Russia Ravil Gainutdin has repeatedly criticized the use of the term “martyr” in relation to terrorists. This is incorrect and aimed at discrediting Islam. Hence the confusion in the public consciousness.

My next goal is the TV tower. Its height is 310 meters. Construction began in 1979. However, the facility turned into a long-term construction project. As a result, they finished only in 1996.

I climbed to the top level of the cemetery. I found some Soviet ruins.

It turned out that I walked around the cemetery and went down the other side. There is an eternal flame in the form of a torch and the state flag of Azerbaijan.

Shahidlyar Mosque and upper funicular station

I noticed another memorial, I went to look

It turned out that this is a memorial to the memory of Turkish soldiers who died in the battle for Baku in 1918

Monument to twice Hero of the Soviet Union General Azi Aslanov

Flame Towers skyscrapers are the tallest buildings in Azerbaijan. . I had hopes that you could enter it and maybe even have an observation deck, but there is a fence around the complex and the buildings look uninhabited.

The television tower stands on a nearby mountain. The places are deserted, public transport does not go there. I walked along the road past the closed territory of the television company, then through a construction site. I was beginning to think that there wasn’t even a viewing platform there.

At first I went the wrong way. A kind uncle stopped me and said that they wouldn’t let me into the television center. Like, follow the road down, the entrance to the TV tower is there. On the way I met a security guard, he went nuts and even crawled out of his booth. Apparently single girls don't go there often. In fact, most people arrive there by taxi or in their own car. The security guard said that there was an observation deck, you need to go into the restaurant and take the elevator.

I went into the restaurant. But it was not there. They just didn't let me in. They said that you can get into the restaurant by reservation and that they generally have a deposit. There is simply no observation deck.

She left without a slurp. She was actually very angry. This is a lantern for the specialized community. And this is the naviaaddress for the tower and restaurant - https://naviaddress.com/994/931791

I returned back a different way, not through Nagorny Park and Gulistan, but around the Flame Towers in new neighborhoods.

Residential buildings on Lermontov Street. I wanted to show you that Baku has not only the old city and Soviet houses.

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Şəhidlər Xiyabanı

In 1935, this cemetery was liquidated, and some of the burials were moved by relatives to other cemeteries. In his place, his name was broken and his statue was erected. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the park was liquidated, the Kirov statue, as well as entertainment facilities were removed.

After the tragedy, on January 21, 1990, a funeral commission was created for those who gave their lives for the independence of Azerbaijan. The commission was headed by Azer Nabiyev. The burial place for the martyrs was determined by Azer Nabiyev together with the chairman of the Executive Committee of People's Deputies of the district named after 26 Baku commissars of the city of Baku, Ali Mamedov. When choosing the location, the recommendations of the architect Nariman Aliyev were also taken into account.

On January 21, 1990, they were moved to Nagorny Park after the farewell ceremony on the square "" ( Azadlıq meydanı - “freedom square”, former “Lenin Square”) bodies that died during the night from. On January 20-21, more than 120 graves were dug in the alley. The funeral lasted several hours. On January 22, another 50 people were buried. Three of them were victims whose bodies were discovered in the park while digging graves. On all three graves it is written "Shaheeds of 1918". Flowers, mainly red carnations, which have become a symbol of mourning in Azerbaijan, were laid on the graves and places where the martyrs died.

Mountain Park - one of the best in Azerbaijan - stretches over the Baku Bay with a bizarre intersection of wide stairs and shady alleys, observation platforms and secluded corners for lovers...

Upland Park was originally called English. The fact is that on the territory of the park there was a burial place of British soldiers who were sent to Baku to overthrow the emperor in 1918. Now only a memorial stone reminds of those events, which you can reach if you turn right from the upper alley of the park. The burials themselves have not survived.

In 1935, large-scale construction of the park began. A monument to Sergei Kirov is being erected, whose name the park will bear for several decades. The builder L. Ilyin wisely used the natural features of the landscape, laying observation platforms on the hills, from where a stunning view of the city opens, and connected them with tennis alleys and intricately winding staircases. Walking through Nagorny Park, each time you discover Baku from different sides.

Be sure to look for a boulder with a rectangular hole in Nagorny Park on the mountainside. It has been here since the nineteenth century and is believed to have healing powers. Women suffering from infertility came to worship the boulder to be cured of their illness. It would be logical to assume that large-scale construction would destroy the boulder, especially since it did not fit into the overall picture of the park. But most magically, the boulder remained in its place.

The main building material when creating the park was Baku limestone. The deliberately rough masonry of the retaining walls contrasts with the smooth stone elements.

In May 1960, a funicular appeared in the park, which takes everyone to one of the observation platforms of the park. Now you can comfortably get to a city landmark in a few minutes, and then go back down the stairs. The funicular begins its route from the monument to Bahram Gyur, and from the sixties to this day there has been a queue of people wanting to take a ride, including both Baku residents and guests of the city.
By the way, Barhram Gyur, the hero of the poem “Seven Beauties” created by Nizami, is in itself a landmark of Baku. The monument was erected in 1958 and symbolizes the victory of the forces of good over the forces of evil.

In the seventies, Nagorny Park enjoyed enormous popularity. There are attractions here and they sell, according to rumors, the most delicious ice cream in the city. In the park you can escape the heat and have a pleasant time in the Druzhba restaurant, located under the observation deck. There is even a library here.

Another attraction of Nagorny Park is the Green Theater. It was built in the early sixties. A panorama of the Baku Bay opened right behind the stage, so the performers at the Green Theater had to fight for the attention of the audience with nature itself. However, other buildings soon blocked the view of the bay. And in the nineties the theater fell into disrepair. It was restored only in 2007, and now in the warm season it is here Both local and international artists perform.

In 1982, the Gulistan Palace appeared in Nagorny Park. It was built by architects Kh. Amirkhanov, N. Gadzhibekov, T. Sharinsky. This project was awarded the state prize of the republic. By the way, it was here, in Gulistan, that the “Contact of the Century” was concluded in 1994, which opened up oil development in independent Azerbaijan for Western oil companies.

In January 1990, Nagorny Park acquired a new status - the bodies of people from Freedom Square (formerly Lenin Square) who died during the tragic events on the night of January 19-20 were transferred here. More than 120 burials were carried out on January 20-21. On January 22, another 50 people were buried. While digging the graves, three bodies and a broken tombstone with the inscription “Shahids of 1918” were discovered. These bodies were also reburied in Nagorny Park. In this regard, attractions and entertainment venues were removed from the park; now it is a place of memory and sorrow, where silence always reigns and an eternal flame burns.

Şəhidlər Xiyabanı – Alley of Martyrs

However, Nagorny Park remained a favorite place for walks for Baku residents. You will meet here loving couples of all ages, modestly sitting on benches or sedately walking arm in arm, mothers with children and grandmothers with dogs. And, of course, the place is always full of tourists with cameras, trying to take the most beautiful shots from numerous angles.

Alley of Martyrs (Baku, Azerbaijan): detailed description, address and photo. Opportunities for sports and recreation, infrastructure, cafes and restaurants in the park. Reviews from tourists.

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Near the upper station of the Baku funicular there is a small park complex. True, you won’t hear cheers or loud laughter here. In the mid-1990s. The city authorities created a park of culture and recreation named after. Kirov is one of the main memorial complexes of Azerbaijan - the Alley of Martyrs. Essentially, this is a cemetery. And it was mainly the victims of “Black January” that found eternal peace here - that’s how the clashes between Soviet troops and the local opposition are called in Azerbaijan.

What to see

The Alley of Martyrs consists of more than a hundred graves located along a long snow-white stele. On the black tombstones are photographs of those killed in tragic events at the end of the USSR. These are ordinary workers, teachers, police officers. On the very first monument there is a photograph of the Allahverdiev couple: Ilham was shot, and Fariza, having learned about the death of her husband, committed suicide.

On the alley there is a small memorial to the memory of Turkish soldiers who took part in the Battle of Baku in 1918 and a monument in honor of the twice Hero of the Soviet Union, General Azi Aslanov.

The memorial alley leads to an open area where several other important monuments are located. The main one is an impressive rotunda in the national style, inside of which the Eternal Flame burns. There is also a small Shahid mosque built in the early 1990s with the assistance of the Turkish authorities.

Practical information

Address: Baku, Mehdi Huseyn Street.

Nearest station metro: "Icherisheher". The most convenient way to get to the Alley of Martyrs is by cable car or along the stairs running parallel to its tracks. Free admission.