Sheki

On entering the historic centre of Sheki the first thing that catches your attention is the smell of walnut and cinnamon drifting from the shops selling paxlava, the local sweet made in thin layers that bears no resemblance to the Turkish version. The streets of the old bazaar are narrow with uneven cobblestones, and residents leave the doors to their workshops open: you can watch craftsmen working the shebeke — the coloured stained-glass windows assembled in carved walnut wood, with no glue or nails — using the same technique as their grandparents.

Sheki sits at around 700–800 metres above sea level in the foothills of the Greater Caucasus, which makes it noticeably cooler than Baku in summer. From the upper part of the town the mountain ridges are visible almost year-round, and the plane trees lining Hüseyn Cavid Street provide enough shade for a midday stroll. Traffic is light; cars share the space with fruit carts and the occasional flock coming down from the mountain.

In the area around the restored caravanserai there are cafés with terraces where black tea is drunk with rose jam. Groups of older men play dominoes in the afternoon under the vine. The pace is unhurried, without the tourist pressure of Baku, though in July and August the city receives a significant flow of Azerbaijani visitors escaping the capital's heat. The historic city of Sheki was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2019.

Sheki was for centuries an active hub on the silk routes between the Caucasus and Persia. Its heyday came in the eighteenth century, when local khans built the Khan's Palace and turned the city into the capital of an independent khanate. Several fires devastated the lower town at various times, which explains why the historic centre shifted up to the hillsides. The silk industry supported the local economy well into the twentieth century; some looms are still active today. In 2019 UNESCO included the historic city of Sheki on its World Heritage List, recognising both the architecture and the living fabric of its craft traditions.

• Khan's Palace Built in the second half of the eighteenth century and restored, its facade combines narrative frescoes and shebeke windows — coloured stained glass assembled in carved wood without a single nail — that filter light in a way that is hard to describe. The site ticket also covers the small adjacent museum. Open Tuesday to Sunday.
• Albanian caravanserai Two large courtyards surrounded by former merchants' rooms, now restored as a hotel and commercial area. The scale of the caravan trade still comes through; it is a good spot to sit under the arcade with a tea.
• Shebeke workshop In the craft quarter, masters can be watched hand-cutting small pieces of walnut wood to assemble stained-glass panels without any adhesive. Some workshops allow visitors in to watch the process; finished panels are sold as souvenirs.
• Sheki bazaar Busiest in the morning, with stalls of walnuts, mountain honey, spices and freshly made paxlava wrapped in waxed paper. Worth arriving before ten.
• Sheki walls and fortress The partially restored walls surrounding the historic city offer views over red-tiled rooftops and the Caucasus ridges in the background.

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From Baku there are direct buses taking around four hours; they depart from the International Bus Station. Night trains also run, though more slowly. From Tbilisi it is possible to arrive by marshrutka crossing the Lagodekhi border and changing at Zakatala; the total journey is around five to six hours. There is no airport in Sheki; the nearest is Ganja, about 170 km away.

The best time is May to June and September to October: temperatures of 18 to 25 degrees, trees in leaf or autumn colours, and no winter rains. July and August are warm but manageable thanks to the altitude, though prices rise and the city receives more visitors. Winter can bring snow and close some services in the higher areas of the Sheki-Zaqatala region.