The story of true love: Maiden's Tower

The Maiden's Tower, which keeps the story of true love is the largest and most curious monument of Baku. It is located in the historical part of the city - the Inner City. The Maiden's Tower, a bright symbol of Azerbaijan architecture, is the main attraction of the capital city. This monument represents an entire century and attracts the attention of the tourists from all over the world.

A little bit of legend

A mysterious Maiden's Tower is full of interesting legends. Most of them are related to the meaning of the word "Maid". However, the most beautiful and popular of the legends says: "The shah fell in love with his daughter and decided to marry her”. Horrified by the upcoming marriage with her father, and wanting to dissuade him, the daughter asked him to build a tower and then to marry her. When it was ready, the girl climbed the tower and rushed from it into the sea.

Maiden Tower in Baku

Bakou, Azerbaïdjan

About the tower

The construction of the Tower, from above, resembles the shape of Buta, that, since ancient times was a universal symbol of fire, light and sun. In addition, four of eight windows of the tower are located in a such way that on December 22, on the day of the winter solstice, the rays of the sun passing right through them illuminate the tower from the inside.

The height of the Maiden's Tower in the north part reaches 28 m and in the southern part - 31 m, while the thickness of the walls is 5 m at the base and 4 m at the top. All eight floors of the tower are separated from each other by the stone decking and are connected by the stairs.

Fascinating numerology

As we have already noted, the height of the Maiden's Tower on the south side is 28 meters. Curiously, there are many "coincidences" in Icheri Sheher with the number "28". The fact that the Caspian Sea is 28 meters below the level of the world ocean, there are 28 quarters in the territory of Icheri Sheher, gives a symbolic meaning to this number. From a bird's-eye view, the Maiden's Tower resembles the shape of the numbers "9" or "6". Together they form such a well-known concept of "Yin-Yang".

Icherisheher (Old City), Baku

Baku AZ1000, Azerbaijan

A virtual tour of the tower

On the first floor of the Maiden's Tower, behind the glass, one can see old plates and spoons, as well as jugs and other utensils discovered during the archaeological excavations, that, of course, lost their original appearance.

The second floor tells us about the alleged goals of the construction of the Maiden's Tower. There are three of them - defensive, religious and scientific. On the third floor, there is a mock-up of the Maiden's Tower, in the middle of a hall and a well. The researchers found a clay ware at the bottom, as an evidence that the well was used for drinking water. The fourth floor impresses with its modern equipment like a large electronic map of the Old City with towering mock-ups of sights.

The key exhibits of the fifth floor are e-books. They look quite like real ones, but the pages automatically turn over when you touch them. The sixth floor shows us with all sorts of weapons, copies and daggers. In the middle of the seventh floor, you can see the device that generates a smoke, on which the image of fire is projected.

At the top of the Maiden's Tower, this story of true love comes to an end. Hope you will enjoy the real tour of this amazing place.

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