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The Palace of Happiness ( az, Səadət Sarayı), currently also called Palace of Marriage Registrations and previously called Mukhtarov Palace, is a historic building in the center of
Baku Baku (, ; az, Bakı ) is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. Baku is located below sea level, which makes it the lowest lying national capital in the world ...
,
Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country, transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Wester ...
, built in
Neo-Gothic Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...
style in the early 20th century.


History

The building was built by an
Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country, transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Wester ...
i Oil Baron Murtuza Mukhtarov for his wife Liza-Khanum Tuganova. The designer was the Polish architect Józef Płoszko who had also built several other historic buildings in Baku in the early 20th century. Mukhtarov often took his wife Lisa Tuganova, who was of Ossetian origin and the daughter of the Russian General Tuganov, on expensive trips to Europe. During one of their trips to France, they came across a beautiful
French Gothic French Gothic architecture is an architectural style which emerged in France in 1140, and was dominant until the mid-16th century. The most notable examples are the great Gothic cathedrals of France, including Notre-Dame Cathedral, Reims Cathed ...
building. Lisa, astonished by its architecture said: "How happy the tenants of this building must be." Mukhtarov did not reply but on his return to Baku, he ordered his people off to France to purchase blue prints of the building and bring them back to Baku. An exact copy of the building was raised in central Baku within nine months. On its completion in 1912, Mukhtarov surprised his wife by driving her there in a carriage and telling her that it was her new residence. An intriguing detail is the statue above the entrance of the famous Polish medieval knight Zawisza Czarny (Zawisza the Black). The couple still lived in the palace until 28 April 1920, when the Bolsheviks occupied Azerbaijan. Upon entering the building, three Russian officers were shot by Mukhtarov himself, after which he committed suicide. In 1922, Soviet authorities allowed the building to be used by the newly founded women's organization, the
Ali Bayramov Club The Ali Bayramov Club was the first club for women in Baku, Azerbaijan. The Club offered a variety of vocational skills and training to women, in additional to cultural and leisure activities. Its main focus was campaigning for women's unveili ...
, which offered a variety of vocational skills and training to women, in additional to cultural and leisure activities. Afterward, it functioned as
Shirvanshah ''Shirvanshah'' ( fa, شروانشاه), also spelled as ''Shīrwān Shāh'' or ''Sharwān Shāh'', was the title of the rulers of Shirvan from the mid-9th century to the early 16th century. The title remained in a single family, the Yazidids, ...
s Museum. During the existence of
Azerbaijan SSR Azerbaijan ( az, Азәрбајҹан, Azərbaycan, italics=no), officially the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic (Azerbaijan SSR; az, Азәрбајҹан Совет Сосиалист Республикасы, Azərbaycan Sovet Sosialist R ...
, the palace functioned as the Palace of Marriage Registrations. On 2 August 2001, by a resolution issued by the Cabinet of Ministers of Azerbaijan, the building was listed as real estate of historic and state importance and was to be protected as a monument of Azerbaijani culture. The street lying on the right side of the building carries the name of Murtuza Mukhtarov. On 5 July 2012 the building has been reopened after major overhaul and restoration.Ilham Aliyev attended the opening of the Palace of Happiness after major overhaul
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Palace of Happiness Buildings and structures in Baku Houses completed in 1911 Gothic Revival architecture in Azerbaijan Józef Płoszko buildings and structures