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Sheki is one of the most famous and ancient places of Azerbaijan. Situated 700 m above sea level like an amphitheatre surrounded by the mountains and forests of oak trees, this ancient city was long famed as a silk centre and an important stop on the Great Silk Route
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Azerbaijan 26 The Palace of Shaki Khans 5
The building of Sheki Khans' palace according to its expressive architectural structure, numerous shining walls, which decorate the interior and the riches of graceful wooden works can be considered a rare architectural work. It is worth mentioning that the miniatures of each room have special meaning. For example, the rooms of the first floor were intended for visitors - they show the riches and power of khans
Photography is prohibited in the palace. The pictures are from the net and the photo-book of the palace
The two storied palace has six rooms, four corridors and two balconies. The design of the floors is same. The main rooms of the palace are composed of halls located in first and second floors. Each of them has two narrow ottomans on the back wall and the wider one is on the front wall
The wider ottoman and the hall of the ground floor could be used from official receptions
The last total and complete restoration from 2002 - 2004 supported by the World Bank and executed under leading of a German restoration team
There is no direct link between the floors. One can mount the second floor using stairs located behind side rooms. The absence of the internal passage between ground and the first floor is explained by the separation of palace in two parts-the official guests halls and the rooms for private usage.
This separation is quite ordinary for the Eastern feudal environment and can be observed in ordinary dwelling houses.
Thus, external people could access only ground floor while members of the Khan family or the servants were allowed to go to the second floor
Ornaments decorate the entire surface of the walls, ottomans, the passage from the wall to the ceiling, as well as plafonds of halls on both floors and the rooms The guest room
The first and second pillars of ottomans located inside the hall of the first floor demonstrate in particular hunting and battle scenes given in the form of an arch. It reflects concrete events from the life and history of Sheki Khans The guest room, first floor
The guest room, first floor Hunting Scenes
All the windows and doors of the palace were skillfully assembled from pieces of wood and colored Venetian glass. The most amazing is that not a single nail or glue drop was used for the construction!
It is possible to track the entire history of Sheki khanate: the weapons of khan's armies and their enemies’, the clothes, the banners, military customs and many other things
The interior walls of the residence are covered entirely with frescoes painted at different times during the eighteenth century. Many of the frescoes feature flowers in vases, while a series of paintings on the first floor halls depict hunting and battle scenes
Each room of the palace differs from one another and is skillfully decorated. All the walls and ceilings are painted with miniatures: mythical birds in paradise garden, unusual flowers and animals. The natural paints used for the pictures are admired by the visitors because of their bright colors
