the city that is flat. I traveled there on March 13th with some fellow teachers and other foreigners. Sheki is known to be the second tourist city in the county, next to the capital. I can't say I would travel half-way around the world to see it, but it is a beautiful city and it does have it's own peculiarities.Sheki's biggest claim to fame is Xan Saray, the long-standing palace of a regional ruler. It was an interesting palace. It had high ceilings, doorways that you had to both step up and duck through at the same time, beautiful stained glass windows
held together only with wood, and elaborate fresco designs that covered every inch of wall and ceiling space. Besides the stained glass, I enjoy a mural border in the main room that depicted war horses, soldiers and many battle scenes. I liked this because of the armor they wore and the unique flag designs the soldiers carried. (and the occasional head that seemed to be floating!)However, I have to admit, I was slightly disappointed because of a sign I saw on the way in. It read "Xan Saray, monument of world importance". I wouldn't rate it that high in my book.
From there we went into a historical museum. After arguing at the door about the fee, we were finally allowed in to the museum which I believe use to be a church. Due to the cultural up-keep, this museum wasn't well organized and there was certainly nothing in English to tell us what we were looking at. However, we had fun trying on some old artifacts and posing with manikins!
Next we walked into "Caravan Saray". This was a hotel located along the ancient Silk Road where travelers would stop to water their camels or spend the night. It was made of really thick stone walls and more awkward doorways. Also there was an old, non-functional water spout decorated with old cultural symbols. My favorite part, though, were the long arch-dominated hallways.
On the way to our next stop, we did some tourist shopping. We popped in and out of the small, expensive shops and then into a bakery were we tried Sheki baklava. Baklava is the national desert here and each region has it's own way of making it - to the point that the only similarity is that they are all made of dough, sugar and ground walnuts.
Our final sight-seeing stop was an ancient Albanian Church higher
up on the mountain. This church has not been used as a church for hundreds, if not thousands, of years. There are various graves in the surrounding church yard that archaeologists had dug up and you can look down into. I was surprised to find some of the information boards inside translated into (very poor) English. I struggled to read one of them out of obligation.
Over all, I had a great time seeing a different part of the country, playing English word games with the teachers in the "marshuka" and breathing some fresh mountain air! Another thing you should not miss if you visit Sheki is "the old man and the wolf". For a price he will take off the cover and show you "the wolf". No, I was not curious or desperate enough to oblige him!
On the way to our next stop, we did some tourist shopping. We popped in and out of the small, expensive shops and then into a bakery were we tried Sheki baklava. Baklava is the national desert here and each region has it's own way of making it - to the point that the only similarity is that they are all made of dough, sugar and ground walnuts.
Our final sight-seeing stop was an ancient Albanian Church higher
up on the mountain. This church has not been used as a church for hundreds, if not thousands, of years. There are various graves in the surrounding church yard that archaeologists had dug up and you can look down into. I was surprised to find some of the information boards inside translated into (very poor) English. I struggled to read one of them out of obligation.Over all, I had a great time seeing a different part of the country, playing English word games with the teachers in the "marshuka" and breathing some fresh mountain air! Another thing you should not miss if you visit Sheki is "the old man and the wolf". For a price he will take off the cover and show you "the wolf". No, I was not curious or desperate enough to oblige him!
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