Quba

Quba smells of fruit in summer: the apple trees surrounding the town produce local varieties sold in wooden crates stacked along the M2 highway. The centre is not large — the bazaar and a few tsarist-era buildings on the main street are the highlights — but it serves well as a base for exploring the valleys and peaks of the eastern Caucasus.

The Quba bazaar comes alive on weekday mornings: stalls of cheese, spices, walnuts and vegetables sit alongside carpet dealers with shops scattered through the centre. The Quba-Khachmaz region has its own weaving tradition: more angular geometric motifs than in the south, a palette of reds and deep blues. Prices are always negotiable and vendors are generally not pushy.

Crossing the Qudyalchay river five minutes on foot brings you to Krasnaya Sloboda, a neighbourhood inhabited by Mountain Jews — the göy yəhudilər — with active synagogues and architecture that contrasts with the rest of the town. It is one of the few rural Jewish neighbourhoods still surviving in the Caucasus.

From Quba you can reach the village of Khinalig, about 60 km by mountain road, or Laza, the starting point for trekking in the Shahdag massif. The scenery along the way — reddish gorges, beech forests, snow-capped peaks — is reason enough to stop in this town.

Quba has been a commercial and administrative hub of northern Azerbaijan for centuries. In the eighteenth century it was the seat of the Khanate of Quba, a political entity that at its height controlled part of the Caspian coast. With the Russian expansion in the nineteenth century it was incorporated into the Caucasus governorate system and retained its importance as a crossroads between the coast and the mountains. The population has always been diverse: Azerbaijanis, Lezghins and Mountain Jews coexisted in its streets, and that mixture is still visible today in the market, on shop signs and in the active synagogues of Krasnaya Sloboda.

• Quba bazaar Covered market and adjacent streets with stalls of fruit, cheese, spices and handwoven carpets; most lively on weekday mornings.
• Krasnaya Sloboda Mountain Jewish neighbourhood across the Qudyalchay river, five minutes on foot from the centre; active synagogues and distinct architecture that deserves a quiet hour.
• Village of Khinalig About 60 km by mountain road, one of the highest inhabited villages in the Caucasus, with its own language and almost intact pastoral traditions. Requires a 4WD vehicle or a local driver.
• Village of Laza More accessible than Khinalig, with basic accommodation available; starting point for trekking towards the slopes of the Shahdag massif.
• Afurja Waterfall About 20 km from Quba, in a red-rock gorge; accessible on foot from the end of the track or by off-road vehicle.
• Carpet shops in the centre Scattered along the main streets of Quba; the Quba-Khachmaz region has its own style with geometric motifs and reddish tones.

Galería de fotos

Frequent buses and marshrutkas run from the North Bus Station in Baku to Quba; the journey takes around 2.5-3 hours along the M2 highway (about 170 km). There is no train. For mountain villages like Khinalig, it is advisable to hire a 4×4 in Quba or engage a local driver, as the track may be in poor condition depending on the season. The nearest airport is Heydar Aliyev International Airport in Baku.

Spring (May-June) offers temperatures of 18-25°C, green scenery and passable mountain roads: the best time. July and August are hotter in the valley (up to 32°C), though Khinalig and Laza remain cool. Autumn (September-October) brings the apple harvest and forest colours. In winter snow closes the access to Khinalig and temperatures in town can drop to -5°C.