Gobustan Rock Art and Mud Volcanoes

UNESCO World Heritage Site: Gobustan Rock Art Cultural Landscape (2007). More Than 6,000 Rock Engravings Across 40,000 Years, Plus The Gobustan Mud Volcanoes, The Largest Concentration In The World, With The Museum In Qobustan Village. · Qobustan, Gobustan

Gobustan is a bare, windy plateau of fallen boulders about 65 km south of Baku, and it holds one of the oldest picture galleries in the world. More than 6,000 engravings of bulls, hunters, boats, dancers and animals were pecked into the rock over some 40,000 years, and UNESCO listed the landscape in 2007. A modern museum at the entrance gives the background with a short film and an audio guide, and a ranger then walks you through the main rock groups at Boyukdash, Kichikdash and Jingirdag. The Gaval Dash, a stone that rings like a tambourine when struck, is a favourite stop. Further inland on a rough road, small grey mud volcanoes bubble and plop, with Dashgil the largest field. The site has no shade, so summer is hot, winter is windy, and rain turns the mud road to a trap. Most people see it as a half-day trip from Baku, and it rewards a slow look rather than a rush. Wear shoes you do not mind ruining, carry water, and treat the engravings as fragile: look closely, but never touch them or step on the stone.

Rocky plateau of petroglyphs and a museum about 65 km south of Baku on the Caspian road, with the mud volcano fields a short drive inland, Qobustan, Gobustan, Azerbaijan

The museum and the rock-art reserve keep daytime hours most days of the week, roughly from morning to late afternoon, and the museum closes one day a week, so confirm the day before you go. The mud volcano fields are open ground with no gate and no staff, so they can be reached at any time the road allows. Rain or snow can close the mud road without notice. Ranger-led walks need the ticket office to be open, so arrive well before closing time.

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