Zaqatala (city)

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Zaqatala is a town in northwest Azerbaijan. With a municipal population of 26,000 inhabitants, it is located northwest of Sheki, by the Tala River and is the main municipality of the Zaqatala rayon.

A plane tree in one of Zaqatala's public parks.

It is served by the A315 road coming from Mingachevir and leading to the Georgian border at Lagodekhi as well as by a small airfield.

The monument to the mutineers of the Battleship Potemkin in Zaqatala.

North of the town there is an important wildlife and nature preserve. The Caucasus Mountains provide it with natural protection from the north winds. The wooded mountainsides, with frequent waterfalls offer great hiking opportunities. Due to its climate the town became a mountain health resort.^{[citation needed]}

Zaqatala is also of historic interest, centered on its 19th century town centre. The main square, formerly called Lenin Square, features a pair of 700 year old plane trees. The city's most prominent feature is a ruined fortress, built in the 1830s by occupying Russian forces during the Caucasian War to defend the city from rebels. In the 1850s, the town was the site of battles between Russians and Dagestani leader Imam Shamil.^{[citation needed]}

In the 20th century the town and fortress became more famous when it was used as the prison for the mutinous crew of the battleship Potemkin, who's actions in the failed 1905 Revolution were a precursor to the eventual 1917 revolution. The statue of one of the mutineers still decorates the local park. Nowadays the fortress still houses a military garrison as well as several Soviet-style apartment buildings. Near the northern part of the ramparts there is a beautiful but abandoned Georgian church.^[1] The town now sports a sizable new mosque.^{[citation needed]}

In the town centre is the Soviet-style Hotel Azerbaijan (formerly the Intourist hotel). This spartan, undesirable is still fully occupied by refugees displaced by the Nagorno-Karabakh war. There are alternatives in Zaqatala and the surrounding villages like Ashghi Tala and Jar (also spelled Car/Djari) (both about 3 kilometres 2 miles) from Zaqatala, the pension Tala, built recently and providing very decent conditions.^{[citation needed]}

The ruined Georgian church in Zaqatala.

[edit] Demographics

Azerbaijanis, Avars, Lezgins, and Tsakhurs inhabit Zaqatala and the surrounding rayon. In addition to the Azeri population, which is the majority here and in most of the rest of Azerbaijan, communities of Dagestani peoples, including the Avars, Tsakhurs, and Lezgins, live in the area.^[2] Recently, there has been some unrest in Zaqatala amongst the various ethnic groups, although it is unclear how much ethnic disputes led to these disturbances, including attacks on police.^[3]