" If there were no other ancient architectures in
Azerbaijan It would be sufficient to show the
world nothing else but The Palace of the
Sheki khan's "
NAZIM HIKMAT
Sheki is an ancient town of Azerbaijan where historical monuments of the past and a considerable part of its planning structure have come down to the present day.
Having focused crafts and commerce , Sheki was at the same time one of the major cultural centres of the country .As a capital of the Sheki khanate ,Sheki played an important part in the development of the Azerbaijan culture. The town is situated in a remote part of Azerbaijan ,rather far from the central regions, at the spurs of the Caucasian mountains.The town enjoy extremely picturesque natural conditions.
The old town was situated at the southern foothill s of the Greater Caucasian Range, not far from the ancient trade routes , linking the countries of the Near and Far east with those in the West.The town had been located lower to the present day site , in the valley of the Kish river.In 1772 the town was destroyed by the mud flows and was transferred to the new place in the same year, the stronghold , the Sheki fortress was erected simultaneously.
The town boasts of amount of historical monuments of the past , among which the Sheki khans Palace is of particular significance.
The Palace of Sheki khans is an outstanding masterpiece of the medieval architecture of Azerbaijan.
Unique in its architectural design , The Palace of the Sheki khans was erected in 1762 by Huseynkhan who wrote his poems under the pen-name "Mustag" .Specific methods of construction were used when building the Palace. Suffice it to say that each square meter of ornamental window frames "shebeke" consists of five thousand parts connected without a single nail.
Many branches of the people applied art , in particular interesting samples of the wall painting of the 18-19th centuries , have been collected here.
We know names of five artists who painted the Sheki khans Palace in different periods of time: "Ustada" Abasgulu , naggash Mirza Gafar from Shamakha , Usta Gambar from Shusha , Aligulu and Gurbanali from Shamakha .
The Sheki khans Palace was erected in the period of construction decay in Azerbaijan. However , the Sheki khan’s Palace demonstrates that masters , who followed the traditions of the past , were able to create pieces of art in that period of time.