Georgia, Armenia & Azerbaijan - Azerbaijan (PDF Chapter)

This is the Azerbaijan chapter from Lonely Planet’s Georgia, Armenia & Azerbaijan guidebook.

Selling itself as the ‘Land of Fire’, Azerbaijan (Azərbaycan) is a tangle of contradictions and contrasts. Neither Europe nor Asia, it’s a nexus of ancient historical empires, but also a ‘new’ nation rapidly transforming itself with a super-charged gust of petro-spending.

• compare the grand stone architecture, medieval walled city centre and modernist tower skyline of Azerbaijan’s dynamic capital, Baku
• maps
• seek out an 18th-century palace, unforgettable caravanserai-hotel and picturesque Old Town in Şəki, cupped in beautiful wooded mountains
• transport
• take in stone- and bronze-age petroglyphs and a nearby ‘family’ of wonderfully weird mud volcanoes near Qobustan
• restaurants & accommodation

Coverage includes: Understand Azerbaijan, Azerbaijan Today, History, Arts: Cinema, Literature, Music, Painting and Sculpture, Food & Drink, Directory A-Z, Baku (Bakı) & around, Abşeron Peninsula, Qobustan, Northern Azerbaijan, Quba & around, Northwestern Azerbaijan, İsmayıllı, Lahıc, Qəbələ, Şəki, Qax & İlisu, Zaqatala & Car, Balakən, Central Azerbaijan, Gəncə, Southern Azerbaijan, Biləsuvar, Lənkəran, Talysh Mountains and Astara.