Azerbaijan is a country of ancient culture. Time has preserved a large number of archaeological remains and ancient architecture. Proof of this are the Azij caves, the first dwelling place of primitive man, Gobustan, famous for its inscriptions masterfully drawn on the rock by ancient artists, the ruins of one of the first cities of Azerbaijan, Kabala, the sublime medieval monuments of Najichevan., Barda, Baku, Shaki and other cities.
Gobustan, located 65 km south of Baku, is an open-air museum. Here you can admire about 4,000 cave paintings with an antiquity close to 12,000 years, in which hunting scenes, ritual dances or religious ceremonies are represented, as well as reproductions of ships and constellations. To add more historical wealth to this tourist enclave, Roman soldiers stamped their signatures and comments on a kind of graphite, at the beginning of our era.
Azerbaijan is the cradle of many intellectuals, philosophers, poets, architects, musicians, artists. Legend has it that Zoroaster was born in Azerbaijan. This country has given the world exceptional characters such as Nizami Ganjaví, Jagani Shirvaní, Bahmaniar, Nasimí, Fizuli, Nasir-Adin-Tusi, Shaj Ismail Jatai, Molla Panah Vagif, Bakijanov, MF Ajundov, MA Sabir, J.Mammadgulizade, Husein Yavid, Dyabbarli, Samad Vurgun, Aliaga Vahid, Rasul Reza and many others.
Upholstery
The country’s natural wealth, with products such as cotton and silk, has favored the production of extraordinary tapestries. Carpet weaving is one of the oldest Azerbaijani traditions. Azerbaijani rugs are world famous and portray different aspects of popular life, stories, legends and classic works of popular literature in their images, in shades that seem to absorb the colors of nature.
Some of these ancient carpets are exhibited in museums such as the Louvre in Paris, the Metropolitan Museum in New York and the Hermitage in Saint Petersburg. Many museums around the world display articles of metal, ceramic, silk and wood artisans, made in Azerbaijan.
Architecture
As a country located in Asia according to DENTISTRYMYTH, Azerbaijani architecture had different phases through the centuries, however the medieval period predominates in the heritage, especially the Maiden’s Tower and the Palace of the Shirvan Shajs in Baku.
The ornaments decorated in the subway stations are the latest architectural miracle. Modern style buildings in Baku, particularly with Roman and Gothic elements, were built in the early 20th century in the period of the oil boom. The appearance of the city, the result of the interweaving of Gothic, Baroque and Arabic elements, together with the architecture of the Asperón School, gives life to a unique style, baptized as ” Baku Eclecticism “.
Painting
The wide palette of bright colors that characterize the culture and land of the country have been captured in the canvases of Sattar Bahlulzade, Tair Salahov, Togrul Narimanbeiov, Mikail Abduláev and other brush masters.
Music
Azerbaijani classical music is called mugam (more accurately spelled muğam), along with poetry and instrumental interludes. Poetry is basically about divine love and is linked to the closest of Sufi Islam. In contrast to the mugam traditions of Central Asian countries, Azerbaijani mugam is the looser, less rigid form; it is often compared to the improvised style of jazz. The 7 of November of 2003 the UNESCO proclaimed the traditional Azeri mugham as a masterpiece of oral and intangible heritage of humanity.
Instruments used in traditional Azerbaijani music include the stringed instruments tar (lute made from skin), kamancha (fiddle made from fish skin), ud, originally barbat, and saz (long lute), the wind instrument of the double -caña-balaban (frame drum), gaval, (drum made with double cylindrical), nagara (davúl), and gosha nagara (double nagara). Other instruments include garmón (small accordion), tutek (whistle flute), and daf (frame drum). One of types of Azerbaijani traditional music is ashug music. Ashuges are the traveling bards who sing and play saz, a form of lute. Their songs are semi-improvised around a common base.
Popular music has inspired some of the most exceptional musicians, such as Uzeir Hajibeyov, Muslim Magamaev, Gara Garayev, Fikrat Amirov, Niazi, and Arif Malikov. The most famous contemporary musicians of Azerbaijan are perhaps the jazz singer Aziza Mustafazade and her father, Vagif Mustafazade, who is quite popular internationally in jazz circles. The synthesis of jazz with mugam has played a very important role in promoting both genres.
Science and education
Since the beginning of the 1st century, thanks to the efforts of Azerbaijani intellectuals and industrialists with a view to developing culture, education and health, some philanthropic institutions have developed. Thanks to their efforts, public buildings were built, new schools and gymnasiums were opened, health care was promoted, the development of the press was stimulated, the water supply was improved, etc.
They also paid for the studies of many students in the best universities in Europe and Russia. At the beginning of the ХХ century, Baku became the world’s oil center. Businessmen from all over the world settled in the capital. Oil made Baku province one of the most beautiful cities in Europe. Exceptional architects from Europe, Russia and the East worked in the city.
In 1919, the Baku State University was inaugurated, and in 1945, the Azerbaijan Academy of Sciences, which played a fundamental role in the development of science, education and culture of the Republic.
