Ganja
The Second Largest City, Home Of The 12th Century Poet Nizami Ganjavi, Whose Mausoleum Stands Here. Known For The Bottle House Built Of Glass Bottles, The Shah Abbas And Javad Khan Mosques, A Soviet Era Park And The Ganja Gate, A Heritage Cityscape. · Ganja, Ganja
Ganja is Azerbaijan's second city, in the west about 370 km from Baku, and one of the oldest settlements in the Caucasus. It is the home of the 12th century poet Nizami Ganjavi, and his modern mausoleum and museum are the cultural anchor of a visit. The centre is built around Heydar Aliyev Park and Javad Khan Square, with the Shah Abbas Mosque and the Juma Mosque close together, the small Chokak Hamam bath museum, and the famous Bottle House, a villa clad in thousands of glass bottles. The feel is calmer and greener than Baku, with tree-lined avenues, tea houses and busy markets, and few foreign visitors. Most sights sit within a short walk of each other, so a day on foot is enough. Ganja also works as the base for Goygol Lake and the German colony at Goygol town. Summers are hot, winters are cool, and spring is the best season. Honest expectation: it is a pleasant, modest city with a few real treasures, not a place of grand monuments, and the journey from Baku is part of the day.
Azerbaijan's second city in the west, about 370 km from Baku, with the old city around the Shah Abbas Mosque and the Nizami Mausoleum on the edge, Ganja, Ganja, Azerbaijan
The streets, parks and exteriors are open at all hours and free. Museums, the hamam and the Bottle House keep their own hours, usually from morning to late afternoon, and some close one weekday (Monday is common). The mosques are best visited outside prayer times and on Friday mornings they are busy. Markets run early to mid-afternoon. Confirm everything locally.