Baku's Içerisheher - Part I: The Maiden Tower

One of my favorite things to do in Baku is walking around the historical core of Baku, called Içerisheher (pronounced Itsherisheher). With its thick stone walls, cobblestone streets, narrow labyrinth-like outlay, beautiful gates, little souvenir shops, restaurants, art galleries, the excavated remains of old buildings, the Palace of the Shirvanshahs and the Maiden Tower, there is plenty to see. I've walked around Içerisheher probably about 10-15x now, and I still discover something "new" every time I go there.

From what researchers know, or claim to know, this area dates back at least 1000 years ago, with the fortress walls and towers, and the Maiden Tower being built during the 11-12th century, while the Palace of the Shirvanshahs was built in the 15th century.
Between the end of the 18th and the beginning of the 19th century, Baku's population grew and neighborhoods were formed outside of the old town area. This is when its name "Içerisheher", meaning "Inner City", emerged. Those not fortunate or rich enough to live within Içerisheher, had to live outside of the walls in the "Bayir Sheher", Outer City, and were often called the "barefooted people of the Outer City" by the people who lived within the walls.

Içerişheher was divided into several quarters just like many old cities were throughout the world, for example into the quarter for people involved in the naval industry, another quarter was for the city nobles, then a quarter for the clergymen, a Jewish quarter, one for merchants and several little areas for all kinds of trades.
Today, you don't really get that feel anymore that there are certain quarters, and I can imagine that it was a lot busier then than it is today. It's actually surprisingly quiet there.

If you decide to go to Içerisheher, here are the options of how to learn more about the old town.
We haven't taken any tours yet, so I have no idea how good they are.

The Maiden Tower

About two weeks ago, we finally went up the Maiden Tower - yay! We usually have William and his stroller with us, so we were never able to go up the tower, but I had been very curious about what's inside. So, when my mother was in town over the holidays, we asked her to watch William for a bit and finally went up there.
Before going, I thought that there was not much inside and that you just go up some stairs along the walls all the way to the top, but they actually have a little museum inside that explains the different theories about the purpose of this building. I thought it was well done and worth the $2 entry fee for locals (I think it is about $4.20 for tourists).
If you are interested in going there, I would like to warn you that the building is not accessible with a stroller or wheelchair.
There is no need to be super fit to make it up to the top. The tower has about 8 floors, which are each connected by 8-10 stairs. Since each floor showcases some information about the tower, you get a small break in between stairs, so that makes is easier to go up.


Researchers are not sure when exactly this tower was built and what purpose it was for. There are several hypotheses about its purpose, which all have strong evidence.

Here are the are the main ones, for those of you who like geeky history stuff:

1. Defensive Tower: During the 12th century, a strong defensive system was built around the city, which included twin city walls that connected 70 semicircular towers. At the nearby port, there was a fortress (Sabayil Fortress), whose ruins now lie under the sea (there is a model of the fortress at the Palace of the Shirvanshahs, if you would like to take a closer look at it). Some people think that as one of the main buildings built in the city, the Maiden Tower was part of this defensive system. It is calculated that the tower could house up to 200 people in case of an attack. 

The very thick walls, the hidden water well and the entrance suggest that the tower was built to protect against enemy attacks. However, the tower does not have any arrow slits and merlons which are typical for old defense buildings. 

Isn't this picture so neat?!? Baku's defensive system with the twin walls, about 70 semicircular towers and the Maiden Tower right at the water (now it's about 200m away from the water)

2. Theory: Ancient Temple

Sun, light and fire worship have been practiced in the region since ancient times. "Buta", which is the symbol of fire and is shaped like a bird's eye, has been in wide use. From above, the Maiden Tower is shaped like a "Buta", suggesting that it could have served as a religious building like a temple. Its placement and layout of the upper four windows allow sun rays to enter directly into the tower on December 22nd, which is the winter equinox. As shortest day of the year, it is believed that special rituals were held at the tower on that day to restore the sun's power and renew its cycle.  

3. Observatory

The third theory is that the Maiden Tower was an observatory. Its windows and buttresses face the rising sun on important dates, which is very unlikely to be a coincidence. Bright stars like Sirius in the Great Dog constellation, Vega in the Lyra constellation, and Antares in Scorpius, can all be observed from the tower's windows. 

Since science and religion was much more connected in old times, the Maiden Tower could have fulfilled all three purposes. 

It is still unclear why the Maiden Tour is called like that. Some people say that "Maiden" could be the name given to a defensive building that has never been captured by an enemy.
But, as so often with things with uncertain origins, there are also many legends about it:
1. The most popular one is about a beautiful girl, possibly the daughter of the Khan of Baku, who did not want to agree to marriage before a shah, who fell in love with her, would build a tower for her.

2. Then there is a slightly different version that says that this girl who asked the prince to build a tower before she would agree to marriage, would ask him to build it taller and taller in order to put off the wedding day, and when it was finally tall enough, she threw herself from it.

3. And then there is a version that says that a Khan was once imprisoned by his son, and in fear of being incarcerated as well, his sister (the Khan's daughter) jumped from the tower into her death.

There is not too much known about the Maiden Tower and its purpose, so the museum is not full with texts to read, which was quite pleasant for my anti-museum husband :-)

Shaft to a water well inside the tower

The Maiden Tower is 28 to 31 meters high, depending on which side you measure it. The walls are 5 meters thick.
There are 2 shafts within the tower wall. One is a stone-cased shaft that leads from the 3rd floor down to a 1.7-meter deep well that is 9 meters below the surface, and another, narrow ceramic pipe shaft, which purpose is not known.

I'm not a historian, but I can imagine that the narrow ceramic pipe shaft could be some kind of sewage drain pipe, or a drainpipe for rainwater. 

Anyways, back to our tour. After about 8 flights of stairs, we finally got to the top. The view was nice up there. 

Up on the roof top, with the Flame Towers in the background

Beautiful view over Baku. On the right side, you can see a little bit of the Caspian Sea, then the beautiful green boardwalk along the shore, then Neftciler Prospekti, which is one of Baku's major streets. Along Neftciler, there are hotels like the Four Seasons and the JW Marriot Hotel, a few shopping malls, and many high-end stores like Dior, Salvatore Ferragamo, Bvlgari, Tiffany&Co, D&G, Burberry, etc. 

Oh wow... I thought this post is going to be about the whole Içerisheher, but there is too much to write about, so I'll split it up and tell you next time more about the Palace of the Shirvanshahs and the other neat things to see in the old city.
Stay tuned.