Maiden Tower (Giz galasi)

Maiden Tower is an ancient fortress building near the coastal part of the “Old City” of Icheri-sheher. It is one of the most important components of the seaside “facade” of Baku. Its severe massif rises in the coastal part of the feudal city – Fortress or Icheri-sheher. The tower stands on a rock, partially faced with purely hewn stone and protected by a fortress wall with a system of large semicircular ledges rising from the foot almost to the top. Since 1964 the Maiden Tower has been opened as a museum, and in 2000 it became a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

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General Information

The Maiden Tower attracts the attention of travelers with its size, the originality of its volumetric-spatial composition and the unusual treatment of its facades. But not only travelers are interested in this mysterious structure: researchers and artists have devoted many discussions to the Maiden Tower. Poems and songs have been and are being written about it, it has been depicted by artists and photographers.

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In 1924, Azerbaijani filmmakers made a movie about the tower, which used the plots of ancient legends.

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In 1940, choreographer Afrasiyab Badalbeyli staged a ballet, the first in Azerbaijan.

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Since 2010, in order to popularize the Maiden Tower, the Maiden Tower International Art Festival has been held, where artists from different countries decorate models of the tower.

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USSR and Azerbaijani stamps are dedicated to the Maiden Tower.

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The structure of the tower

The tower itself is a stone cylinder with a diameter of 16.5 meters and a height of 28 meters. The walls, made of local gray limestone, are five meters thick at the base and four meters thick at the top. The eastern side of the tower has a ledge, the purpose of which is still debated.

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Inside, the tower is divided into eight tiers, which can shelter more than two hundred people at a time. Each of these tiers possesses a stone dome overlapping the tier.

Each dome has a circular opening, and light enters through narrow window openings, similar to loopholes, widening inward. A stone spiral staircase laid in the thickness of the wall was used for communication between the tiers.

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As in other similar towers, the first and second tiers were communicated with each other by means of an extension or rope ladder, which was removed in case of danger.

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The thickness of the walls of the tower contains special niches through which a pottery pipe with a diameter of 30 cm.

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The tower also has its own well about 21 meters deep. It was penetrated in the rock to the aquifers of the ground from the third tier. At that time, the water in it was fresh and clean.

Legends of Maiden Tower

There are quite a few legends and stories surrounding the Maiden Tower. Of course, many of them revolve around the word “Maiden.”

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The most popular story tells of a Shah who fell in love with his own night. He decided to marry her, but the girl tried to spare herself a similar fate: she asked her father to build a tower and wait for it to be completed. By the time the tower was completed, the Shah had not changed his mind, so the girl climbed to the very top of the tower and threw herself from there into the sea. The stone on which she allegedly crashed has since been called the “Virgin’s Stone”: young girls getting married used to bring flowers to it.

There is also a legend that the Shah’s tower was built on the top of the tower.

There is also a legend that it was near this tower that St. Bartholomew, one of Jesus’ apostles, was once executed. He preached Christianity among the local pagan tribes, but his teachings were received negatively and rejected. Excavations at the Maiden Tower have also uncovered the remains of an ancient temple. Some researchers believe that it is a basilica erected on the site of the death of the apostle Bartholomew.

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Versions of the origin of the Maiden Tower

There are also quite scientific versions of its origin.

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One of them explains that the Maiden Tower was built not where one wanted, but in a special place, which can be compared to acupuncture points on the human body. This place has a connection to astronomical constants. It is believed to affect the Earth’s biofield, just like the Egyptian pyramids.

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On the photos of modern photographers in the night darkness, the illuminated tower looks like a fairy-tale lighthouse, emitting a special energy light.

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The popular expression “the eighth wonder of the world” can be fully attributed to this structure. People with psychic abilities from all corners of the planet are constantly visiting here.

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When a Moscow group of bio-neoethicists arrived at the tower to study the biofield, their equipment was breaking down. Together with the bionenergetics in the tower for more than a month was a group of people who agreed to participate in the experiment. The results stunned everyone: everyone who participated in the experiment felt significantly better than before visiting the tower.

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In the photographs of modern photographers in the night darkness, the illuminated tower looks like a fairy-tale beacon, emitting a special energy light.

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The popular expression “the eighth wonder of the world” can be fully attributed to this structure. People with psychic abilities from all corners of the planet are constantly visiting here.

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When a Moscow group of bio-neoethicists arrived at the tower to study the biofield, their equipment was breaking down. Together with the bionenergetics in the tower for more than a month was a group of people who agreed to participate in the experiment. The results stunned everyone: everyone who participated in the experiment felt significantly better than before visiting the tower.

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Originally, there were no partitions and steps inside the tower. They were made in the last restoration. Psychics assure that this has damaged the biofield.

From January 2013 to January 2014, the tower did not receive visitors, as it was closed for conservation. The work was carried out by specialists from Azerbaijan and abroad. They were led by Erich Pummer, a major Austrian restorer. He restored more than 400 architectural objects of the planet.

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Today the doors of the tower are open again for Baku citizens and guests of the city. There is a new exhibition of museum exhibits in the Maiden Tower. From the observation deck at the top of the tower one can admire the beauty of Baku.

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A horizontal panel with images of architectural objects of Baku, which can be seen from above, has been installed on the observation deck.

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There is also a QR code, which opens access to the necessary page in the Internet for owners of tablets and smartphones, which gives a description of this or that monument on the territory of the tower and near it.

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For tourists – collectors of oriental legends Maiden Tower is a real find. One can hardly find a more mysterious place in Baku.

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Where the Maiden Tower is located

  • Neftchillar Pros, Baku, Azerbaijan.
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  • You can get there by metro to Icherisheher station or by buses to Icherisheher stop.
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Opening hours and prices

  • Monday – Saturday from 10.00 to 18.00.
  • Weekend – Sunday
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  • Cost of attendance: 5 AZN.