FOUNTAIN SQUARE

It is the heart of the shopping town. The fountains that gave him his name, assisted by the brumisateurs of the coffee terraces, also give him a valuable freshness at the warmer hours of the summer. The atmosphere is guaranteed on this huge pedestrian area, the meeting place for local youth. The numerous restaurants at the open terraces invite you to enjoy a kebab beer with local beer, while admiring the particularly dense crowd on the weekend (and sometimes street singers in the evening). On the north side of the square is an Armenian, disused and murée church since the beginning of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. In an alley leading to the square, sellers of antiquities and trinkets of all kinds put their goods in the open air all day.

On the back of the ramparts of the old town, you can admire the statue of Jargon, which dominates a garden on a gentle slope. A little higher is the Ismailiya Palace, built by the oil Baron Nagiyev, in tribute to his son, who today houses the offices of the Academy of Sciences. Next is the Fizuli Institute of Manuscripts, a former school for girls (the first Muslim world) sponsored by Tagiyev at the end of the th century. The building then served as a national parliament during the first Republic of Azerbaijan in 1918, before being renovated and used to host precious ancient manuscripts (which can be consulted by appointment).

The walk along the ramparts then allows to discover the city Hall of Baku, a sumptuous building in the late th century flanked by a sort of belfry climbing on the street.

After having exceeded the Baki Soviet metro station, the pedestrian reaches the Philharmonic. Originally intended to host a casino, of an architecture inspired by those of the flamboyant European casinos, but tinged with medium eastern characteristics, the white and white building has a unique stamp. Those who have the chance to attend a show in this classic concert hall can admire the very exceptional structure of the building, whose auditorium is in fact located underground, taking advantage of the slope to use a minimum surface surface.