9/7: Modern & Monied Baku!

Riding the escalator down to Baku's Metro, it was evident the country had taken a strong anti-smoking stance. We noticed huge numbers of mostly men smoking, however, so it didn't appear the campaign had yet made a lot of headway unfortunately.

The neo-classical Museum Center, once the Lenin Museum,  actually had at least three museums under one roof, something we've not encountered before.

We wondered if the statue out front was of Don Quixote. 

We were given a private tour of the Museum of Azerbaijan Music for a dollar each - how could we pass that up especially since our guide spoke more than passable English?!

The guide said these 18th century Azeri instruments were made from mulberry wood.

Mother of pearl decorated the stringed instrument and the drums below.

Never before did Steven and I recall seeing miniature instruments.

The Tulum was akin to a bagpipe.

The drum had intricate silver edging.

One room was dedicated to a famous Azeri composer.

It was so neat the old music box was still in great working order.

We discovered the old gramophone still worked when the guide wound it up and it played Azeri music from 1911!

The previous day we had first heard of the Azeri composer Gara Garayev's Seven Beauties outside Baku's Palace of the Shirvanshahs so it was neat seeing the poster of his ballet from the performance in San Diego.

The portrait of another Azeri composer was made entirely of tea leaves!

UNESCO proclaimed Azeri Mugham music "a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible History of Humanity."

Across from the music museum on one floor was a Museum on Azeri Theater which we paid to enter, not realizing until it was too late that it wasn't the Museum of Independence that we'd wanted to see. Even though we were the only tourists in each of the building's three museums, the woman in the Theater Museum refused to refund our money when we said we'd made a mistake entering the wrong door. Oh well, we figured the museum needed the money more than we did! She then directed us to the upper floor where the Museum of Independence was as that appealed to us more than a museum dedicated to Azeri theater.  The aim of the Museum, established on January 9th, 1991, was to present the consecutive stages for the Azeri people's struggle for independence from prehistory to the 21st century. 

When we travel, I am always curious about the significance of a country's flag. The flag of the Azerbaijan Republic was adopted in 1991 and consisted of three horizontal stripes - blue at the top, red in the middle, and green at the bottom - each of equal width. The blue expressed Turkic Multinationlism, the red signified the progress to develop a modern state and the struggle for democracy, and the green showed the country's connection to the Muslim world. In the middle of the flag on both front and back, are a white crescent and an eight-pointed star.

When the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic was founded in May of 1918, it was the first democratic state in the Muslim world and ensured, according to the museum, political rights for all citizens regardless of nation, beliefs, gender and class. In addition, women were granted the right to vote and there were free elections in the secular state. The Declaration of Independence:

After more than 80 years of being under the Russian Empire in the Caucasus, the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic was established in 1918. The name  "Azerbaijan" used to identify the adjacent region of contemporary northwestern Iran. After the surrender of the national government to Bolshevik forces, Azerbaijan was proclaimed a Soviet Socialist Republic on April 28, 1920. Shortly after, the Congress of the Peoples of the East was held in September, 1920 in Baku. Although formally an independent state, the Azerbaijan SSR was dependent on, and controlled by, the government in Moscow. For the next thirty years, mass killings of Azeri people took place when they were charged with being "spies, rebels or the people's enemy." People were also exiled to Siberia and Kazakhstan. 

As I wrote previously, there is no love lost between the Armenians and the Azeri people, in large part because of the disputed territory of Nagorno Karabakh. Information at the Museum stated that "As a result of Armenian aggression, 20% of our territory is occupied by Armenia, more than 30,000 people died and more than 50,000 were wounded. More than one million of our compatriots were displaced from their native lands and became refugees." 

The museum stated the history of Azerbaijan's oil industry dated back to the ancient period but mechanical production of oil from dug wells began in 1847. The Azeri oil rush of the 1870s led to a period of unprecedented prosperity and growth in the years leading to World War I but also created huge disparities in wealth between the largely European capitalists and the local Muslim work force. Today, Azerbaijan is the world's ninth largest producer of oil.

When Heydar Aliyev came to power on July 15th, 1993, the day became known to the Azeri people as the Day of National Salvation. When he died in 2003, his son, Ilham Aliyev, was elected president the same year. The museum obviously didn't state that the election was characterized by mass violence and was criticized by foreign observers. 

According to Wikipedia, political opposition to the Aliyev administration remains strong as many were not satisfied with this new dynastic succession and were pushing for a more democratic government. The 2010 parliamentary elections produced a Parliament completely loyal to Aliyev. For the first time in the country's history, not a single candidate from the main opposition was elected. The Economist scored Azerbaijan as an authoritarian regime, placing it 135th out of 167 countries, in its 2010 Democracy Index. Knowing this, it was unsurprising the Museum failed to portray the country's current political climate.

It was tough getting safely across this eight-lane street to take the photo of the Museum Center!

It was very apparent as we walked there was no shortage of glitzy boutiques, fancy patisseries and cutesy stores to spend money on if you're a high roller visiting or living in Baku! 

Molokan Gardens provided a nice place to enjoy the sculptures, people watch and read for a bit before exploring more of Baku.

It was fun wandering beneath outdoor chandeliers hanging over the beautiful pedestrian Nizami Street.

We thought this pretty fountain was part of Fountain Square but, boy, were we wrong.

I couldn't resist having my picture taken beside this very unusual sculpture of a young woman with the bare midriff chatting on her cellphone at the entrance of the real Fountains Square!

The huge square was first designed for parades in 1868. Later, because of poor greenery, it was called Fruitless Garden! During the Soviet period in the 1920s, the government called it the Garden of Karl Marx.It was eventually turned into a park with a public square all around it. In 2010, the old fountain from 1984 was replaced with five modern ones.

We could feel the pulse of the city in this gorgeous square with many popular restaurants, hotels, boutiques and shops built around it. I had a blast just watching people and could appreciate why it is the most popular gathering place of Bakuites.

I can't ever remember seeing a square with so many fountains before - one more exciting than the last!

So much thought went into even designing some of the park benches.

Surely, the neatest seats I have ever seen!

I could have spent hours moving from bench to bench or seat to seat at the fanciful Fountains Square but we had other places we still wanted to explore that afternoon.

This was the first and only Starbucks we've seen this trip, although there may have been one in Paris. McDonald's, Subway and KFC all have a big presence in Armenia and Georgia but not the coffee giant.

You know Baku's hit the big time when it has a Tiffany's store!

All over Baku we saw these deep purple London-style taxis. Riding in one a couple of times made us feel we were back in merry ol' England!

In a pedestrian underpass were these amusing displays that made getting across a major intersection underground more enjoyable!

Chess, anyone?

One thing I really liked about Baku was its many parks. This one, overlooking the Caspian Sea, had playful statues that were likely advertising the nearby Puppet Theater. What a perfect place to bring children.

Since leaving Fountains Square, our aim was to stroll along the Bulvar, Baku's long waterfront park that stretched for 16 kms. The plan is for it to extend 60 kms which would make it the longest waterfront boulevard in the world! In the distance we could spot oil rigs dotting the sea. I read that many of the stones used for the boulevard were taken from the original city wall that was destroyed years ago.

The promenade was pretty empty because of the heat and time of day. I can imagine how magical it would be at night when it's packed with families, canoodling couples with the Flame Towers' reflection in the sea! 

I think already this year's trip should be dubbed The Trip of Many Fountains as we've been lucky to see some very special ones. The graceful swans looked like they were preening in the fountain!

At the Bulvar's southern tip, a gigantic flag flapped on the world's second tallest flag pole. When it was erected in September, 2010, the 162 meter tall pole was superseded by a competitor in Tajikistan just eight months later!

Just beyond the flagpole was Veneziya where motorized gondolas punted on a small loop of artificial canals. It was pretty hokey but would have to do until Steven and I can hopefully visit the real Venice one day together!

In the background were the beautifully designed Flame Towers that we were gradually heading to see!

As I was the previous day, I continued to be impressed by Baku's sights and imaginative architecture. Here were the headquarters of SOCAR, the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic.

Unfortunately our view of part of Baku's port included smelling oil, too!

The International Mugham Center was dedicated to traditional form of Azeri music known as mugham that we had first heard about that morning at the Museum of Azerbaijan Music.

Next post: There was so much more we saw that day in intriguing Baku - the Carpet Museum, Flame Towers and Martyrs' Alley - so I'm leaving those sights to the next post!

Posted on September 16th, 2018, from Karakol, Kyrgyzstan.