UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan has 5 sites on the UNESCO World Heritage List (4 cultural and 1 natural), the first inscribed in 2000 (Walled City of Baku with the Shirvanshahs' Palace and Maiden Tower). The map below plots every one of them alongside the rest of the List, and each site is written up in full further down the page.
- World Heritage Sites
- 5
- Cultural
- 4
- Natural and Mixed
- 1
- First Inscribed
- 2000
Map of World Heritage Sites in Azerbaijan
CulturalNaturalMixedIn DangerLarge dots are in Azerbaijan. Click a dot to read about the site.

Walled City of Baku with the Shirvanshahs' Palace and Maiden Tower
Azerbaijan · 40.3667° N, 49.8333° E · 4 km from Baku
Built on a site inhabited since the Palaeolithic period, the Walled City of Baku reveals evidence of Zoroastrian, Sasanian, Arabic, Persian, Shirvani, Ottoman, and Russian presence in cultural continuity. The Inner City (Icheri Sheher) has preserved much of its 12th-century defensive walls. The 12th-century Maiden Tower (Giz Galasy) is built over earlier structures dating from the 7th to 6th centuries BC, and the 15th-century Shirvanshahs' Palace is one of the pearls of Azerbaijan's architecture.
Description from the UNESCO World Heritage Centre (CC BY-SA IGO 3.0).
Why Walled City of Baku with the Shirvanshahs' Palace and Maiden Tower Is Listed
- (iv)
- An outstanding example of a type of building or landscape.

Gobustan State Historical and Cultural Reserve
Azerbaijan · 40.1056° N, 49.3889° E · 5 km² · 44 km from Ali Bayramli
Gobustan State Historical and Cultural Reserve (Azerbaijani: Qobustan dövlət tarixi-bədii qoruğu) is a protected historic and natural site in Azerbaijan, located about 70 kilometres (43 mi) southwest of Baku, near the settlement of Gobustan. It was established to preserve the region's prehistoric rock carvings, mud volcanoes, and natural musical stones.
The reserve encompasses the Gobustan Rock Art Cultural Landscape, which spans 537 hectares and contains over 6,000 rock carvings that depict people, animals, battles, ritual dances, bullfights, boats with armed oarsmen, warriors with lances, camel caravans, and celestial symbols such as the sun and stars, dating back 5,000 to 20,000 years. It also includes the Petroglyph Museum, which has been operating within the reserve since 2011, and the Mud Volcanoes Tourism Complex, inaugurated in 2024.
The area was first declared the Gobustan State Historical Artistic Preserve in 1966 by a decree of the Council of Ministers of the Azerbaijan SSR. In 2007, the Gobustan Rock Art Cultural Landscape was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
Adapted from Wikipedia: Gobustan State Historical and Cultural Reserve (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Why Gobustan State Historical and Cultural Reserve Is Listed
- (iii)
- A unique testimony to a cultural tradition or civilisation.
More about Gobustan State Historical and Cultural Reserve
UNESCO's Description
Gobustan Rock Art Cultural Landscape covers three areas of a plateau of rocky boulders rising out of the semi-desert of central Azerbaijan, with an outstanding collection of more than 6,000 rock engravings bearing testimony to 40,000 years of rock art. The site also features the remains of inhabited caves, settlements and burials, all reflecting an intensive human use by the inhabitants of the area during the wet period that followed the last Ice Age, from the Upper Paleolithic to the Middle Ages. The site, which covers an area of 537 ha, is part of the larger protected Gobustan Reservation.
From the UNESCO World Heritage Centre (CC BY-SA IGO 3.0).
Key Facts
| Established | 1966 |
|---|---|
| Area | 31 km² |
| Architectural style | prehistoric art |
Facts from Wikidata Q318181 (CC0).

Historic Centre of Sheki with the Khan’s Palace
Azerbaijan · 41.1919° N, 47.1706° E · 1 km² · 0 km from Saki
The historic city of Sheki is located at the foot of the Greater Caucasus Mountains and divided in two by the Gurjana River. While the older northern part is built on the mountain, its southern part extends into the river valley. Its historic centre, rebuilt after the destruction of an earlier town by mudflows in the 18th century, is characterized by a traditional architectural ensemble of houses with high gabled roofs. Located along important historic trade routes, the city's architecture is influenced by Safavid, Qadjar and Russian building traditions. The Khan Palace, in the northeast of the city, and a number of merchant houses reflect the wealth generated by silkworm breeding and the trade in silk cocoons from the late 18th to the 19th centuries.
Description from the UNESCO World Heritage Centre (CC BY-SA IGO 3.0).
Why Historic Centre of Sheki with the Khan’s Palace Is Listed
- (ii)
- An important interchange of human values.
- (v)
- An outstanding example of traditional human settlement or land use.

Hyrcanian Forests
Azerbaijan, Iran · 37.4215° N, 55.7243° E · 1,450 km² · 52 km from Gonbad-e Kavus
The Hyrcanian Forests form a unique forested massif that stretches along the Caspian Sea in Azerbaijan and Iran. The history of these broad-leaved forests dates back 25 to 50 million years, when they covered most of this Northern Temperate region. Their floristic biodiversity is remarkable with over 3,200 vascular plant species documented. To date, 180 species of birds typical of broad-leaved temperate forests and 58 mammal species have been recorded. Elements of the property comprise full ecosystems including top predators such as leopard, wolf and brown bear, and the forest has a high degree of rare and endemic tree species. The oldest trees seen here are 300-400 years old, with some possibly up to 500 years old.
Description from the UNESCO World Heritage Centre (CC BY-SA IGO 3.0).
Why Hyrcanian Forests Is Listed
- (ix)
- An outstanding example of ongoing ecological and biological processes.
Cultural Landscape of Khinalig People and “Köç Yolu” Transhumance Route
Azerbaijan · 40.7059° N, 48.8854° E · 448 km² · 64 km from Sumqayt
This cultural landscape is comprised of the high-mountain Khinalig village in northern Azerbaijan, high-altitude summer pastures and agricultural terraces in the Greater Caucasus Mountains, winter pastures in the lowland plains in central Azerbaijan, and the connecting 200-kilometre-long seasonal transhumance route called Köç Yolu (“Migration Route”). The village of Khinalig is home to the semi-nomadic Khinalig people, whose culture and lifestyle are defined by the seasonal migration between summer and winter pastures, and who retain the ancient way of long-distance vertical transhumance. The organically evolved network including ancient routes, temporary pastures and camping sites, mausoleums, and mosques illustrates a sustainable eco-social system adapted to extreme environmental conditions.
Description from the UNESCO World Heritage Centre (CC BY-SA IGO 3.0).
Why Cultural Landscape of Khinalig People and “Köç Yolu” Transhumance Route Is Listed
- (iii)
- A unique testimony to a cultural tradition or civilisation.
- (v)
- An outstanding example of traditional human settlement or land use.
World Heritage in Azerbaijan: Quick Answers
- How many UNESCO World Heritage Sites are in Azerbaijan?
- Azerbaijan has 5 World Heritage Sites: 4 cultural and 1 natural.
- What was the first World Heritage Site in Azerbaijan?
- Walled City of Baku with the Shirvanshahs' Palace and Maiden Tower, inscribed in 2000. The most recent is Cultural Landscape of Khinalig People and “Köç Yolu” Transhumance Route, inscribed in 2023.
- What are the natural World Heritage Sites in Azerbaijan?
- Hyrcanian Forests.
- Are any World Heritage Sites in Azerbaijan in danger?
- None of the World Heritage Sites in Azerbaijan is on UNESCO's List of World Heritage in Danger.