Western Route: Aghstafa

Population of the district - 75600 people; district centre, the town of Aghstafa - 12100 people.

AGHSTAFA DISTRICT is located in the foothills of the Greater Caucasus, on the western borders of Azerbaijan - bordering Georgia and Armenia. The climate in the district is temperate, and the population is engaged in livestock breeding and agriculture.

Several small rivers flow here, as well as a tributary of the Kura - the Aghstafa river, and there is Lake JANDARGOL. 20 km. from the town of Aghstafa, in the village of TATLI, is the GALACHMA spring, where both locals and tourists often come to relax and try the local kabab (shashlik).

On the bank of the Kura lies GARAYAZI - a State Reserve established in 1978 on an area of 4.9 thousand ha to protect and restore the riparian tugai forests of the Garayazi lowland along the Kura and of the middle course of the Kura river. The main protected feature here is a large tract of tugai forest.

Aghstafa district is also home to the "GARAYAZI-AGHSTAFA" sanctuary, established in 1923 (area 12.0 thousand ha) to preserve and restore the populations of the Caucasian red deer, pheasant, black francolin, etc. The sanctuary lies on the border with Georgia in the tugai forest zone of the middle Kura. Its flora and fauna are identical to those of the "GARAYAZI" reserve, with which the sanctuary directly borders.

Discovered in the district: the ancient Palaeolithic settlement of MOLLA NAGHI TEPESI near the village of KOCHASKAR; a 17th-century TOWER and a 19th-century MOSQUE in the village of GIRAG KASAMAN; 19th-century mosques in the villages of KOLKHALFALI, GARAHASANLI, DAGHKASAMAN, DUZ GISHLAG. The whole region is literally "dotted" with monuments of the Stone Age, the Bronze and Iron Ages", including the town of Aghstafa itself. This points to the region being densely populated in archaic times. All these archaeological sites are still awaiting detailed study and further excavation.

Beyond the town of Aghstafa, on the Keshikchidag ridge, near the shepherds' yatags (summer grazing grounds for livestock), there are a defensive fortress and cave monasteries of Caucasian Albania dating from the early Christian era. Because this zone was off-limits during the USSR period due to a Transcaucasian military unit being stationed there, this unique complex was never studied. There was no access to it, and many of the paintings in the caves were damaged by targeted artillery fire. Now this complex of Caucasian Albania - one of the state formations of ancient Azerbaijan - is being studied by archaeologists of the National Academy of Sciences.

THE TOWN OF AGHSTAFA is located near the border with Georgia. Distance from Baku - 479 km. The town was founded in 1914 of the 20th century as a railway junction. It was small and was called Yelizavetinka.

From here you can travel by rail to Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia. In Aghstafa great care is taken to preserve the district's historical and architectural monuments and its cultural heritage - carpet weaving and the art of ashug singers. The local museum of local lore keeps archaeological finds: bowls, vases, household items and jewellery.