Olympic Azerbaijan: Ganja

The first European Olympics in the capital of Azerbaijan is a grand event which will take place in Baku in June. Thousands of tourists will visit the country and feel the atmosphere of the festival. Baku has not only renewed its front, but has become a different, new, perfect city which is aiming for the future. The host of the Games hopes that the guests of the Olympics will take the opportunity to study multi-faced, colorful, bright, sunny Azerbaijan – the land of fire, blue sea, snow-white mountains, and other beautiful sights. You can feel the charm of travelling, leaving Baku for a few hours. Vestnik Kavkaza begins a cycle of materials which will present the cities and towns of Azerbaijan, which deserve to be visited, for tourists who don't have much time.

Ganja

Ganja is the second-largest city of Azerbaijan. It is situated 400 km west of the capital. It can be reached by train from Baku railway station or by bus from the international bus station. It will take 5-6 hours to get to the city by car.

If you decide to visit the city, you should know what the second capital of Azerbaijan is famous for. First of all, it is the birthplace of the great poet of the Medieval East – Nizami Ganjavi. The Azerbaijani people pay deep obeisance to the poet, and it can be seen in the city. An architectural complex in the form of open books – the most famous works by Nizami Ganjavi with quotations from the works – is situated near the mausoleum of the poet at the eastern entrance to Ganja. The monument is quite oriental; it is surrounded by a park.

The center of Ganja is a pedestrian street named after the great Azerbaijani poet Sabir. The street is an analogue of a part of the Baku pedestrian street n.a. Nizami, which was called Trade Street in the past. In ancient times it was a place of intensive trade in Ganja. There were many shops, craftwork houses and offices. The street was a kind of business center. The first cinema in Ganja was situated here – ‘Chronicle.’ If you pay attention to the design, you will note that the basic colors are beige and golden. The array creates an atmosphere of coziness, while the center of the city looks simple, but elegant. It is very typical for a city where there is not the fuss and noise of the capital.

Modern Ganja has wide streets and avenues, skyscrapers of modern design. The old districts of the city have one- and two-storey buildings from red bricks; they were built in the middle of the 19th century and the early 20th century. The Grand Mosque (17th century) was built from red bricks as well. It is situated in the center of the city.

One of the main symbols of Ganja are its plane trees (Oriental sycamore). Planes grow everywhere – in the center of the city and in distant districts. There is no system in their planting. Some of them are older than 150 years. They are majestic and beautiful. Ganja has the Governor Garden. It was renamed the Park n.a. V.I. Lenin in Soviet times. But in the 1990s the old name was restored. The garden was famous for a verity of exotic plants which were brought from various countries. The garden was visited by the Governor General of the Elizavetpolskaya Province, Yermolov (this was the name of Ganja in the Russian Empire).

One of the main and wonderful features of the Azerbaijani nation is hospitability and generosity. Most of all it can be felt in Ganja. People love welcoming guests and do it at the highest level. Don’t even try to refuse offered sweets, you won’t manage to do it. The main goal is to leave a guest feeling well and satiated.

So, if you choose the city of Ganja for your journey, you should have no doubts that the choice is right. You will get great impressions and pleasant memories from Ganja.