Lagich village

Lagich is a small but very picturesque village in Ismailli district of Azerbaijan. The village is a historical and cultural reserve, which is included in one of the most popular tourist routes – “The Great Silk Road”. Lagich is one of the most famous Caucasian trade and craft centers, which is famous for the manufacture of various copper utensils decorated with engraved oriental ornaments, as well as the manufacture of handmade cold weapons.

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History of Lagic

Ancient legends tell about the origin of Lagich. According to one of them, the Persian Shah Kei-Khosrow killed the ruler of one of the cities. Fleeing from revenge, he found refuge in the mountains near modern Lagich, where he spent the rest of his life. The servants and those close to him moved closer to the Shah, founding a small settlement here, which grew over time.

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It is believed that the inhabitants of Lagich learned to smelt iron and copper in the Persian city of Hamadan. In their hometown, local craftsmen were able to develop the manufacture of copper utensils and trade, turning Lagich into a craft center. There were numerous workshops and smelting furnaces throughout the town. Caravans bringing bread, fabrics, copper and other goods passed through Lagich daily. Beautiful copper ware and cold weapons were exported to Armenia, Georgia, Dagestan, Persia and Turkey. Over time, Lagich grew and became a large village with white stone streets, two- and even three-story houses, public baths, sewage and water supply.

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At the end of the XIX century due to the emergence of factory production, handmade products lost their popularity. At this time, the production of handmade tableware in Lagic declined sharply. Residents of the town began to move en masse to big cities: Baku, Kurdamir, Shemakha and the village began to decline. But in 1980 Lagich was declared an important historical and cultural reserve of Azerbaijan. To this day, the best traditions of local craftsmanship are maintained and developed in the village.

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Uniqueness of modern Lagich

Lagić is built on the principle of quarter building, it is a unique monument of medieval architecture. Cobbled streets and squares of the town, neat houses, unique oriental flavor, abundance of shops with many handicrafts – these features of Lagic attract the attention of many tourists. It is interesting that the sewage system of the town is still functioning today, although it was laid 1000 years ago. Ancient methods of making copper products, passed down from generation to generation, are still used today. The development of various crafts: tinning, blacksmithing, copper smelting, tanning, and leatherworking contributed to the emergence of a number of ancillary industries in Lagic.

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Copper production in Lagic

The village of Lagic has been famous since ancient times as a center for the manufacture of highly artistic copper products. Copper production was mainly concentrated in one of the large quarters of the settlement, “Agaly”. This quarter is also called “misgyar bazaar” because of the many copper workshops. The craftsmen immediately put every new product in their store windows.

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Copperware from Lagıç was presented in the Louvre. And the Bern Museum still holds knives, rifles, sabers and daggers of Lagic masters, richly decorated with inlay of expensive stones and oriental ornaments. Despite the reduction of copper production in the 20th century, the traditional workshop structure, equipment, processes of copper smelting, casting and forging, and artistic engraving of products are still preserved today.

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Tannery and carpet making

Another craft for which ancient Lagic was famous was leather embossing. “Zavaro” is one of the neighborhoods of the settlement where tanners lived and worked. Saffiano leather goods made by local craftsmen were considered to be among the most exquisite in Transcaucasia. Lahich tanners skillfully processed shagreen, yuft and morocco leather. Leather was used to make all kinds of items: belts, shoes, leather coats, bridles and book bindings. The skills of production and sale of handmade products created favorable conditions for the development of weaving and carpet making in Lagich.

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In the middle of the XX century in the village was created the first artel for the manufacture of carpets. Oriental ornaments of Lagich coppersmiths and blacksmiths were widely used in weaving. The carpets are distinguished by their exceptional beauty and rich color range. Due to their high quality and excellent artistic properties, carpets of local masters have gained wide popularity and are in demand even abroad.

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Sights of Lagich village

  • Mosque “Zavaro”
  • Agolu Mosque – Museum of History and Local Lore
  • Badoy Mosque
  • Upper mosque “Arakit”
  • Lower Mosque “Arakit”
  • House of Abdulla Dadashev
  • House of N. Aliyev
  • Bathhouse of Haji Mola Hussein
  • Bathhouse of Haji Jahanbakhsh
  • Haji Nurmamed’s Bath
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  • Mill
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  • Bridge “Il”
  • Zavaro Spring
  • Haji Garay Spring
  • Baba Spring