Western Route: Gadabay

Population of the district - 89300 people; district center, the town of Gadabay - 8500 people.

GADABAY DISTRICT lies in the mountains of the Lesser Caucasus, taking in both high-mountain country (the peaks of Goshabulag - 3549 m. and Gojadag - 3317 m.) and mid-altitude mountains. The difference in elevation above sea level also creates different climatic conditions - the mountain tundra climate gives way to a dry climate with hot summers. Distance from Baku - 462 km.

You can get to Gadabay either from Shamkir or from Tovuz, from Govlar station. However, the Tovuz road, although scenic, is impassable for passenger cars: you need an off-road vehicle here.

Gadabay District offers good conditions for fishing on the Shamkir River, and there is a fish farm near the village of Galakand. The flora and fauna of Gadabay District are rich and diverse - the GIZILCHA nature reserve is located on its territory. There are also several natural sites from the state list "Natural Monuments of Azerbaijan" - the SHAMLIG, GAMISH, GEDAKDARA and GOVDU forests. Springs gush here - KECHI-KECHI, JUYUR, AYI, JARGA, and there are mineral water springs - NARZAN, GIZILJA, MORMOR, JALDASH.

Monuments of ancient culture have been discovered here, which entered the history of Azerbaijan as the KHOJALY-GADABAY culture. Cyclopean structures of the Bronze Age have been found, as well as the so-called "GADABAY HOARDS": household utensils, old jugs full of jewelry, and 16th-century silver coins from the reign of Shah Tahmasib - they circulated in the region from Tabriz (present-day Iran) to Shirvan and Ganja.

Among the historical and architectural structures surviving in the district are the ARCHED BRIDGE (19th c.); the tower in the village of GALA (16th c.), the GIZ GALASI tower (or NAMERD GALA - 9th c.) in the village of SOYUDLU; and in the villages of NOVOSARATOVKA, SOYUDLU, CHANAKHCHI and KILAVI there are Christian churches from the early Middle Ages.

The village of SARATOVKA is home to Russian Old Believers - the Doukhobors. They have preserved their material and spiritual culture to this day.

Crafts developed in the region include wood carving, carpet weaving, knitting jorabs (socks) and mittens from coarse, brightly dyed woolen yarn, and sheepskin processing.

The territory of Azerbaijan attracted close attention from some well-known Western entrepreneurs. For example, the NOBEL brothers, who made a fortune on Baku oil. And the German company "SIEMENS", which at the end of the 19th c. built two copper smelting plants in Gadabay. This plant supplied tsarist Russia with a quarter of all the copper it smelted. The Siemens brothers took a keen interest in the history of this unusual land and organized archaeological excavations in the region, the results of which formed the basis of the scholarly work "GALAKAND". You can stay at the hotel in the town center.