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The Alpine settlement Lahij (Lahic) located in Ismayilli region of Azerbaijan is an original monument of antique urban and architectural art. This medieval town with cobbled streets and squares was one of the most famous craft and trading centers in the Caucasus and beyond

Caucasus

Caucasus Mountains in

northern Azerbaijan

Caucasus

The Lahij District is located in the Ismayilli region of the Republic of Azerbaijan, on the southern slopes of the Greater Caucasus Mountain Range at a height of 1211 meters above sea level

The dirt road to Lahic winds up the Girdimanchai river

gorge from the vineyards

outside Shemakha, crossing the

torrent on a flimsy bridge and skirting the sheer walls on narrow, roughly hewn ledges. Ice

and snow cut Lahic off from the valley for weeks at a time in winter 

Dried valley near the village Lahic

The main Greater Caucasus range is generally perceived to be the dividing line between Asia and Europe. The highest peak is Mount Elbrus (5,642 m) in the western Ciscaucasus in Russia, considered as the highest point in Europe. The Caucasus is one of the most linguistically and culturally diverse regions on Earth

The town of Lahij high in the Caucasus is connected to the outside world by a rugged dirt road that winds its way around precipitous gorges. During severe weather it is impossible to get to Lahic, but during the best of weather, the journey is dangerous. There are no guardrails to separate you from 300 foot drops to the rushing river below. Landslides of huge boulders also present a danger

Lahic is one of the most ancient human settlements in Azerbaijan.

Traditional jujum Lahic Water Carriers (metal water-carrying vessels) as they collected water from mountain springs

Lahic Water Carriers

Lahic has an old sewage system (some experts claim that it was built 1000 – 1500 years ago)

The very first residential block in Lahic was founded in III-IV centuries

Roads in Lahic are paved by rocky plates

Population is approximately 1000 people who speak the variation of Tati - Lahiji language of Persian language origin

Many of the people living in Lahic are involved in ancient crafts such as engraved copper work and carpet weaving. In the mid-19th century, there were more than 200 workshops in Lahic. Traders discovered Lahic crafts many centuries ago, and sold them for high prices at bazaars in Baghdad [now Iraq], Shiraz [now Iran] and other Middle Eastern cities

The Louvre Museum in

France has a collection of items from Azerbaijan,

which include a copper pot

manufactured in Lahic

The Museum of Bern also has a collection of

firearms and weapons of cold steel, manufactured

in Azerbaijan, which includes rifles, swords

and sabres, richly decorated with

ornamental patterns and inlaid work

Haji Molla Huseyn bath in Lahic

Lahic is surrounded by tall mountains that are

layered with limestone, sandstone and clay. Stone from these mountains was used to build most of

the houses in the village

Earthquakes frequently occur in the region, and, as a result, a specific style of building construction has developed – which include certain styles and techniques in crosscutting stone and installation of wood

House of Hajiagha Sultanov in Lahic

Due to frequent earthquakes the village

developed it own building techniques, a traditional stone-and-wood cross-tie technique known in Tat

as divarchu ("wood wall"). This technique has proven

results - the damage provoked by quakes in places like Shemaka

remains unseen in Lahic

The ancient dwelling houses in Lahic have

remained unchanged, as, during the past centuries, there have not been any significant changes in the

urban planning. The ground floors of houses built in the main trading

street are used as workshops and trade

rooms

Manaf Suleymanov, the Azerbaijani writer and journalist, who was originally from Lahic, published a book, in 1994, entitled “Lahic: Ethnographic and artistic insight”

Copper work is the most important of the skills developed by Lahij craftsmen. Lahij is renowned for its production of arms and copper items, decorated with carved ornaments. The development of copper production triggered the formation of such professions in Lahij as tinsmith, blacksmith and others, together with the creation of bituminous coal. The structure and supplies of copper workshops, as well as its traditional external look and its production processes remain preserved today, as they were in previous centuries.

Traditional Azerbaijani women's headdress(a cylindrical pillbox cap, more often made of velvet)

Several families offer

home stays for 10 to 15

manat per person,

including breakfast

Leather goods’ manufacture

was the second biggest

craft skill in Lahij, after that

of coppersmith.

The local leather goods’

master craftsmen

were expert in using shagren, tumaj and yuft

as raw materials for

various products such

as shoes, belts, leather

quilted jackets, book covers and bridles.

Leather production in Lahij created

suitable conditions for

the development

of other craftsmen,

with associated

skills - such as saddle makers, bridle makers, cobblers, hat makers and sheepskin makers.

Lahic, in recent years, has attracted the attention of many tourists visiting from countries worldwide and as a result Lahic is now included in the travel tours of several leading tourism agencies

Inside the houses, you'll find a heating device called a "kursu." A kursu is a big table placed above a kerosene stove or hearth and covered with a big blanket. In the winter, the entire family gathers around the kursu to stretch out their legs and warm their feet. Even families that are financially secure who use fireplaces to warm their guest rooms, put a kursu to warm their own family's room

Films about Lahic and its residents have been, and presently are, shown at

international contests and film festivals. The film

called Emanet ("Heritage") directed in 2006, by

filmmaker Shamil Najafzade, is dedicated to the unique culture of Lahij

and to the current problems faced by its people

Saffron is a spice derived from the flower of Crocus

sativus, commonly known as the "saffron crocus". To glean 1 lb (450 g) of dry saffron

requires the harvest of 50,000–75,000 flowers; a

kilogram requires 110,000–170,000

flowers.

Saffron

The fruits (drupes) of the genus Rhus are ground into a reddish-purple powder used as a spice in Middle Eastern cuisine to add a lemony taste to salads or meat

Lahic was proclaimed a historical and cultural reserve by the decision dated 23 December 1980 of the Soviet of Ministers of Azerbaijan. Both the State of Azerbaijan and the Lahic Community make continued and considerable efforts to preserve Lahic’s unique culture, applied arts and traditional system of arranging handicraft production, together with ensuring cooperation within both Lahic’s community and its neighbours

Maybe 1,000 people live where 12,000 did a generation ago and the pressures of unemployment continues to draw people to Baku where there are undoubtedly more opportunities. Let us hope that in another thirty years, a village revival will start to bring people back home again

 Local legend tells that Iranian Shah Kay Khosrow retired to this village in the Caucasus because of its pleasant climate and picturesque scenery. The people consider themselves to be Persian in origin, in particular descendants of Kay Khosrow's original court, and say that the village was named after a place called Lahijan in Persia

The people maintain that the Shah died and was buried in Lahij. In the Zavara cemetery, there's even a grave with a tombstone that clearly reads "Kay Khosrow," along with other tombstones that date back more than 1,000 years ago

For centuries, the valley

people have spoken, at

various times, Azeri, Russian,

Farsi and Arabic, but here in this mountain village of about

1000 people Tat resisted all invaders and remains as

strong as ever

pedestrian cable

suspension bridge on

the river side of the road to

Lahic

After the boom of oil prices, Azerbaijan, one of the world’s major oil and gas exporters, enjoys a new and sudden prosperity: the same that made its fortune from the 1850s, when the first oil wells on the planet started pumping crude here. And today, 20 years after independence from the ex USSR, it plans to use it to finance a development project of unprecedented size

Text: Internet

Pictures: Sanda Foişoreanu & Internet

Copyright: All the images belong to their authors

Presentation: Sanda Foişoreanu

www.slideshare.net/michaelasanda

Sound: Alim Qasimov Ensemble - The Legendary Art of Mugham - Getme Getme - Aman Avdji