This was going to be my last day in the country that I have grown to love and cherish so much, the country called Azerbaijan. We still had a lot of Ganja to explore, and Uslan decided that we should see the main Ganja city by the afternoon. Our plan was to walk around the famous parks and mosques in the city. So we did just that; we walked across the city of Ganja. First, we crossed the main government building that looks akin to Buckingham Palace. It was a great photo opportunity for me, I have to say.
I managed to venture near the main city mosque and also found some artistically sculptured water fountains just near the mosque area. The green sculptures of bathing queens and majestic kings with golden fishes were quite a monument. There was still water in the fountain pond, although the water fountains themselves were not working.
I, for one, was struck by the pigeons flying around in the park, especially right in front of the mosque. I got some good shots of the birds from my iPhone. This was the cultural part of Ganja; it’s where the opera auditorium is and so are many of the old-styled cafes, along with taverns and sarais in this city. “You see, Anuj, Azerbaijan was a resting place for travelers from all over the world who passed through this region: the Arabs, the Persians, the Turks. Even the great Alexander has passed through these lands, and that is why the country is full of sarais, which we call a resting place for a traveler where his horse and carriage can rest, and he can get a warm meal and a sleepover in the night. We have been hosting the world for centuries, you see,” Uslan gave me some nuggets about the ancient past and culture of this place. I managed to get some pictures of kids moving around the streets and pavements and then decided to stop over for tea.
It was an old café, but it was noisy, so we decided to sit outside watching the view and the street. Uslan was fascinated by my blog and wanted my help in making his own website, so we had been having some technological discussions as well.
It was after having some refreshing tea and halva that we proceeded to Xan Bagh, a famous garden here which is a delight for tourists. Full of green trees and lush green grass, the garden also has a huge sculpture of a famous lady poet and writer who lived in Ganja almost all her life by the name of Nigar Refibayh. She was the wife of another famous poet and writer, Rasul Rza. Her father was a surgeon but was executed by Armenian Bolsheviks and was finally executed at Nargin Island. She was born in 1913 and lived most of her life in Ganja City.
In fact, Ganja is a very poetic and artistic city. It also has the tomb of the most famous male poet of the country, the greatest poet of them all, Nizami Ganjavi, a poet who lived in the city in the eleventh and twelfth centuries. But we will talk about that in another blog. As of now, it was me and Uslan enjoying the architectural beauty of Ganja. Ganja, the city of writers and poems, a city which housed the literary elites of Azerbaijan.