Nij, Sheki and the Khan Palace

Breakfast at the guesthouse included the yogurt we’d made the night before. It was much thicker than the yogurt we’re used to but delicious. We were on the road again after breakfast and travelled to where the Christian eastern orthodox Udin people of Azerbaijan live in a town called Nij.

The Udin now number less than 6,000 and are directly descended from one of the tribes from about 3BC to 8AD. In fact, they still speak an endangered language that is essentially the same as that of ancient Albanians. We explored the beautifully restored 17th-century Chotari Church as well as a nearby museum.

We then drove on to Sheki, had lunch, and attended a Shebeke workshop. Shebeke are windows filled with coloured glass, created by Azerbaijani folk craftsmen, from small wooden parts without glue and nails. We crafted small ones and instantly appreciated the intricacies of the craft.

The workshop was a perfect primer for our visit to the Khan Palace, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, which was built in the 17th century and includes numerous intricate shebeke windows. The palace was stunning. Unfortunately, no photos were allowed to be taken inside. Here’s a link to some photos of the interior:

https://mainlymuseums.com/post/777/sheki-khan-s…

From there, we went and checked into our hotel. We then had free time and an opportunity to walk around the main drag of the town. We chose a restaurant at which to have dinner and walked in, quickly realizing that we were crashing a wedding.🤣 Despite hoping we’d be invited to stay, we weren’t, but a waiter quickly came and ushered us to our own private dining room. Quite the experience!

And to top it all, it was raining as we left so we decided to grab a taxi back to our hotel and got to ride back in a Lada!Read more