Nakhichevan City

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Nakhichevan City (Azerbaijani: Naxçıvan şəhəri), is the capital of the Nakhichevan Autonomous Republic of Azerbaijan. It was an ancient trading centre and some historians consider that it was founded in the 16th century BCE. According to a legend, the city was founded by Noah, and one interpretation of the meaning of the city's name is "the place of first descent", ("nakh-ijevan" in Armenian) a reference to the descent from Noah's Ark. This meaning was first written down by the 5th century Armenian historian Movses Khorenatsi. The Greeks and Romans called it Naxuana. In Persian, the region is called "Nagsh-e-Jahan" or "image of the world," a reference to the city's beauty. As early as the 2nd century CE it is mentioned by Ptolemy as a thriving city.

It is spread over the foothills of Zangezur chain, on the right bank of the Nakhchivan river at an altitude of almost 1000 m.

Invader after invader looted, destroyed and (in some cases) rebuilt the city. It was the capital of the Atabek Eldegiz emirate in the 12th century and the Nakhichevan khanate in the 18th century.

The main sight in the city is the heavily restored 12th century Momine Khatun Mausoleum, also known as 'Atabek Gumbezi'. Momine Khatun was the wife of Eldegizid Atabek Djakhan Pakhlevan, ruler of the Atabek Eldegiz emirate. The 10-sided monument is decorated with intricate geometrical motives and Kufic script, it uses turquoise glazed bricks. It shares the neighbourhood with a statue of its architect - Ajami Nakhchivani - and a bust of Heydar Aliyev. Also from the 12th century and by the same architect, is the octagonal Yusuf Ibn Kuseir tomb, known as 'Atababa', half abandoned near the main cemetery.

More recent (1993) is the white marble mausoleum of Hussein Javid. The Azeri writer died in the Gulag under Stalin. Both the mausoleum and his house museum are located east of the theatre. Although being a recent construction, Hussein Javid's mausoleum is of great iconic importance, representing the ability of the exclave to live despite the Armenian embargo and becoming a symbol of Nakhchivan itself.

The city also has an historical museum, a literary museum (both on Nizami street) and the house museum of Nakhchivanski (on Atatürk street). There is also an archeological museum on (?) Istiqlal street. Have a look also at the baths and the blue domed Imamzade, the Uzbek style tomb of Abu Muzaffar Bahdur Khan. The city has a few interesting mosques, particularly the Juma mosque, with its large dome.

Today Nakhchivan city is home to over 60.000 inhabitants. It has some industry, centred around glass, furniture, textiles and carpets, aluminum, tobacco and grape processing. Currently the government is looking for investment to develop tourism and oil production. Socially, this regional capital is quite sophisticated with its own university and a significant scientific and artistic community. For entertainment try the palace of culture, on Azadlyg avenue, the state musical and drama theatre on Ahmed Javad street or the puppet theatre on Nizami street. The city has a lot of business visitors from Iran, Turkey and Russia (these countries have consulates in the city), leading to a reasonable offer of hotels.

Nakhchivan city is served by an airport and theoretically has good road and rail links, however the Nagorno-Karabakh war has made access more difficult contributing to a greater isolation. The best way to get to Nakhchivan is to fly from Baku to Yevlakh airport, south-east of the city (airport code: EVL). From Yevlakh you can also fly to Moscow with Samara airlines. If you are arriving from Baku there is no passport check and you can simply walk out of the terminal. There are buses and taxis to the city, which is only 3km away. From the city, buses to the airport leave from the Shahbuz bus station on the NW part of the city.

Several buses a day depart for Iğdır and Erzurum in eastern Turkey, allowing easy connections to the rest of Turkey. There are train services to Ordubad and Sharur. Inside the city there are buses and trolley-buses and numerous taxis. (450 km west of Baku)

Coordinates: 39°11′35″N, 45°25′42″E