Top 10 Fascinating Facts about Sheki Khan’s Palace

Photo by Grandmaster from Wikimedia

Top 10 Fascinating Facts about Sheki Khan’s Palace

The Palace of Shaki Khan is in Shaki, Azerbaijan. It was a summer residence for the Shaki Khans which was built in 1797 by Muhammed Hasan Khan. 

The palace was built to house the Khans who were in charge of controlling Shaki, as viceroys of the ruling Zand. It was later used by Qajar Persian dynasties in the 18th century.

In the year 1998,  it was nominated to the List of World Heritage Sites by the Azerbaijan committee of the International Council on Monuments and sites. it was also inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2019. 

Here are 10 Fascinating facts about Sheki Khan’s Palace

1. It was Built as a Summer Residence

Photo Source: Wikimedia

The Sheki Khan’s Palace was a summer residence for the Shaki Khans and was built in 1797 by Muhammed Hasan Khan. 

Sheki Khans was one of the most powerful of the Caucasian Khanates established in Afsharid Iran, on the northern territories of modern Azerbaijan, between 1743 and 1819.

Muhammed and Hasan was the chief of the Qoyunlu branch of the Qajar tribe of Turkomans in the Caspian coastlands around Astarabad, he was the son of Fath Ali Khan and the father of Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar, who founded the Qajar dynasty of Iran.

2. Sheki Khan’s Palace is the most Valuable Monument in Azerbaijan

The Sheki Khan’s Palace is the most outstanding and valuable monument from the 18th century in Azerbaijan. It was built in 1752-1762 as the summer residence of Hussein-khan Mushtad, grandson of the great Gadzhi Chelebi. 

It is a beautiful two-storied palace featuring a magnificent interior and exterior. The front of the palace is painted with drawings displaying scenes of hunting and war, as well as plant patterns.

In the center is a huge stained-glass window made from multi-colored glass mosaics. 5,000 glass pieces were used in each square window.

Each room of the palace differs from one other and each is expertly decorated. All the walls and ceilings are painted with miniatures of mythical birds in a garden of paradise, with unusual flowers and animals.

3. It is on the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites

Photo by Adam Jones from Wikimedia

In the year 1998, the President of the Azerbaijan committee of the International Council on Monuments and sites Gulnara Mehmandarova nominated The Palace of Shaki Khans to the List of World Heritage Sites, UNESCO.

On 7th July 2019, the Historic Centre of Shaki with the Khan’s Palace was finally inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

4. Sheki Khan’s Palace is Located in the City of Sheki

The sheik Khan’s Palace is in the city of Sheki which is located along important historic trade routes. The city’s architecture is influenced by Safavid, Qajar, and Russian building traditions. 

Its several merchant houses reflect the wealth generated by silkworm breeding and the trade in silk cocoons from the late 18th to the 19th centuries.

The historic city, lying in a forested valley of the eastern Caucasian mountains, has ancient origins, dating back to the 6th century BCE. The current historic center results from its reconstruction, after a mud flood in 1772.

5. The Palace was Built Without Nails

Photo by Ludvig14 from Wikimedia

The basic material for building the palace was raw bricks, river stones, plane trees, and oaks. The most notable thing is that not a single nail or glue drop was used for the construction. 

Everything is in place due to special craftsmanship, and it took ten years to build. Two years to build the basic building, and eight years to make all the decorations.

The Palace has 6 rooms, 4 corridors, and 2 mirrored balconies. All the windows and doors of the palace were expertly assembled from pieces of wood and colored Venetian glass.

6. The Royal Family did not Sleep at the Palace

Despite all of the work put into building the Sheki Khans’ Palace, the royal family didn’t usually sleep at the palace. 

There were so many buildings available for the family, that they had other places to stay and didn’t have to sleep in this palace. 

Unfortunately, most of those buildings were destroyed in wars and shifting empires, and only the Sheki Khans’ Palace remains today. Several restorations have brought the palace back to its former glory.

7. Visit the Women’s Room at the Sheki Khan’s Palace

Photo by Peretz Partensky from Wikimedia

The women’s room on the second floor was richly and delicately decorated with paintings of flowers and birds, as would suit the women better. Here, the wife of the shah would meet with the wives of visiting diplomats. 

The windows could be opened to create a breezy verandah. Since the Sheki Khans’ Palace was a summer palace, cooling was more important than heating.

Since the shah’s study room was below the main women’s room, and the shah didn’t want to be disturbed by conversations above or for the women to accidentally hear any important secrets, his study room had a very thick ceiling to prevent all these.

8. The Palace was Restored from 1955 to 1965

The Sheki Khan’s Palace was restored from 1955 to 1965. The restoration was carried out in full under the supervision of Niyazi Rev. Two talented architects, Kamal Mamedbekov and Nikolai Utsyn, were involved in this work creating measurement and restoration drawings.

The restoration workshop was established in the ceremonial hall on the second floor of the palace, and the rooms flanking the hall were used to accommodate the architects. 

The drawings developed by Mamedbekov and Utsyn formed the basis of the restoration project for the entire palace complex. Execution of the restoration work based on the drawings was entrusted to the artist F. Hajiyev and A. Rasulov.

9. The Palace is a Symbol of Pride to the Locals

The locals speak of the Sheki Khan’s Palace with an exceptional sense of pride and honor. This is due to the Palace surviving two Russian invasions without suffering significant damages.

The  Russian invasions which lasted for two years took place in 1827. It brought the occupation of the Bolsheviks and ended the existence of the Azerbaijani Democratic. 

Despite some bitter memories of the past, Sheki Khan’s Palace is considered a symbol of the strength and resilience of history, culture, and traditions by locals.

10. How to get to Sheki Khan’s Palace

By Bus: A Bus from Baku, Azerbaijan to Sheki takes about 8 hours 

Travel by Train: A train from Baku, Azerbaijan takes about 10 hours 

Taxi: A Taxi from Baku Azerbaijan takes about 5 hours.

Visitors can also drive themselves from Azerbaijan to Sheki.