Sheki: a first-timer's guide to Azerbaijan's Silk Road town

Why go

Sheki feels slower and gentler than Baku. Its old town climbs a hillside of red tiled roofs, walnut and plane trees, with mountain streams running beside the streets. It is the best place in the country to see traditional crafts at work and to stay somewhere with genuine history.

The Palace of the Shaki Khans

The town's treasure is the **Palace of the Shaki Khans**, a summer palace built in the eighteenth century. From outside it is a small two storey building, but its facade is a wall of **shebeke**, wooden lattice windows fitted with coloured glass without nails or glue, and inside every wall is painted with flowers, birds and battle scenes. Photography inside is usually not allowed, and visitor numbers are controlled, so arrive early in summer. The palace sits inside the old fortress walls with a small history museum and craft shops.

Caravanserais

The **Upper Caravanserai** is a huge stone Silk Road inn built around a courtyard of arches and gardens. Today it is a simple hotel, and sleeping there is one of the most memorable experiences in the country. The **Lower Caravanserai** nearby is also worth a look.

Kish and the hills

A few kilometres up the valley, the village of **Kish** has a small round church that dates back to the Caucasian Albanian kingdom, an ancient Christian people of the region. It has been restored as a museum with glass floors over old graves. The walk up through the village is lovely. For a short hike, the **Gelersen Gorersen** fortress ruins sit on a hill above the town.

Crafts

Watch shebeke masters at work in small workshops in the old town, and look for silk **kelagayi** headscarves, a UNESCO listed tradition. Copper, embroidery and woodwork are sold near the palace. Buy from workshops where you can see the work, and ask about care for silk.

Food

Sheki is famous for **piti**, lamb, chickpeas and chestnuts cooked slowly in an individual clay pot. Eat it in two stages: first tear bread into the broth, then eat the meat and vegetables. The town is also known for **Sheki halva**, a sticky layered sweet of rice noodles, nuts and syrup, and for **mutaki** and other pastries. Tea houses under the trees are the place to try them.

Getting there

Buses and shared minibuses run from Baku's main bus station, and the drive along the foothills passes Shamakhi, the Diri Baba mausoleum and the turn for Lahij, so many travellers break the journey in Gabala. A train also runs overnight on some routes; check the current timetable with Azerbaijan Railways. Inside Sheki, the old town is walkable, and local taxis are cheap for Kish.

Where to stay

The Upper Caravanserai is the classic choice. Family guesthouses in the old town offer home cooked breakfasts, gardens and a real welcome, and there are a few mid range hotels on the main road. Book ahead for summer weekends and holidays, when Baku families come to escape the heat.

A suggested day

Start at the palace when it opens, before the tour groups arrive, then wander down through the old town to the caravanserai courtyard for tea. After lunch, take a taxi up to Kish, walk through the village to the church and back, and finish with piti for dinner and a box of halva for the road. If you have a second day, climb to the fortress ruins in the morning light, visit a shebeke workshop and a silk shop, and simply sit under the plane trees and watch the town go by. Sheki rewards those who slow down rather than tick off sights.