orta əsrlərə the Middle Ages

If you want to see ancient ruins, a medieval town of the Absheron Peninsula and a museum of avante-garde art all in one place, then you need to visit the Gala State Historical and Ethnographic Reserve.

travel back tothe Middle Ages

You can find yourself in both the Bronze Age and a medieval town in an amazing open-air museum in Azerbaijan. This is the ancient settlement of Gala, now the Gala State Historical and Ethnographic Reserve. The territory of the complex, located about 40km from Baku, exceeds 81 hectares – enough to accommodate over 100 football fields!

Here you’ll witness rock paintings, constructions and everyday items from the 3rd-2nd millennia BC and climb to the top of a fortress dating from the 14th century, from where an incredible view opens up of the Absheron Peninsula. In the medieval town, meanwhile, you’ll discover how our ancestors lived and see their clothes, crockery, coins and ornaments. And if you take an interactive tour you can try weaving a carpet, crafting a clay jug, baking bread in an old oven and working in a real blacksmith’s workshop!

The exposition of yet another unusual museum at the complex – From Waste to Art – will bring you back to the present with an assortment of artworks made from… household rubbish: cables, lamps, wheels and many other worn-out things.

At the Gala Reserve you can touch the exhibits with your hands, which the kids will love as well as the mini zoo, which received new additions last spring: baby goats, lambs and even a baby camel. Tours for kids aged 3 and under are free while for those aged 12 and under you pay half price. And here they won’t stop you from taking photographs.