Qabala ( az, Qəbələ) is a city and the administrative centre of the

Qabala District Qabala District ( az, Qəbələ rayonu) is one of the 66 districts of Azerbaijan. It is located in the north of the country and belongs to the Shaki-Zagatala Economic Region. The district borders the districts of Oghuz, Shaki, Agdash, G ...

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...

. The municipality consists of the city of Gabala and the village of Küsnat. Before the city was known as Kutkashen, but after the Republic of Azerbaijan's independence the town was renamed in honour of the much older city of Gabala, the former capital of

Caucasian Albania Caucasian Albania is a modern exonym for a former state located in ancient times in the Caucasus: mostly in what is now Azerbaijan (where both of its capitals were located). The modern endonyms for the area are ''Aghwank'' and ''Aluank'', among ...

, the archaeological site of which is about 20 km southwest.

History

Antiquity

Gabala is the ancient capital of

. Archaeological evidence indicates that the city functioned as the capital of Caucasian Albania as early as the 4th century BC. Up to the present time, there are the ruins of the ancient city and the main gate of Caucasian Albania. Ongoing excavations near the village Chukhur show that Gabala from the 4th – 3rd centuries BC and up to the 18th century was one of the main cities with developed trade and crafts. The ruins of the ancient town are situated 15 km from the regional centre, allocated on the territory between

Garachay The Garachay ( az, Qaraçay) is a river in Qabala Rayon, Qabala raion of Azerbaijan. It flows through the western end of an ancient city of Qabala. In the suburbs of Qabala, it joins other small rivers Hamzali, Mirazabeyli and Gojalan. It flows in ...

and Jourluchay rivers. Gabala was located in the middle of the 2,500-year-old

Silk Road The Silk Road () was a network of Eurasian trade routes active from the second century BCE until the mid-15th century. Spanning over 6,400 kilometers (4,000 miles), it played a central role in facilitating economic, cultural, political, and reli ...

, and was mentioned by

Pliny the Younger Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus, born Gaius Caecilius or Gaius Caecilius Cilo (61 – c. 113), better known as Pliny the Younger (), was a lawyer, author, and magistrate of Ancient Rome. Pliny's uncle, Pliny the Elder, helped raise and educate ...

as "Kabalaka", Greek geographer

Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; grc-gre, Πτολεμαῖος, ; la, Claudius Ptolemaeus; AD) was a mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist, who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were of importanc ...

as "Khabala", Arabic historian

Ahmad ibn Yahya al-Baladhuri ʾAḥmad ibn Yaḥyā ibn Jābir al-Balādhurī ( ar, أحمد بن يحيى بن جابر البلاذري) was a 9th-century Muslim historian. One of the eminent Middle Eastern historians of his age, he spent most of his life in Baghdad and ...

as "Khazar". In the 19th century, the

i historian

Abbasgulu Bakikhanov Abbasgulu agha Bakikhanov ( az, Abbasqulu ağa Bakıxanov) (21 June 1794, Amirjan – 31 May 1847, Wadi Fatima, near Jeddah), Abbas Qoli Bakikhanov, or Abbas-Qoli ibn Mirza Mohammad (Taghi) Khan Badkubi was an Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az ...

mentioned in his book that Kbala or Khabala were in fact Gabala. In the 60s BC,

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

troops attacked Caucasian Albania but did not succeed in capturing the Qabala territory. In 262 AD, Caucasian Albania was occupied by the

Sassanid Empire The Sasanian () or Sassanid Empire, officially known as the Empire of Iranians (, ) and also referred to by historians as the Neo-Persian Empire, was the last Iranian empire before the early Muslim conquests of the 7th-8th centuries AD. Named ...

, but preserved its political and economic status. In 464, it lost its independence due to years of invasions from the northern nomadic tribes and had to move its capital city to Partava (currently Barda in Azerbaijan).

Feudal era

Gabala was occupied by

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, a ...

Fariburz, King

David IV of Georgia David IV, also known as David the Builder ( ka, დავით აღმაშენებელი, ') (1073–1125), of the Bagrationi dynasty, was the 5th king of United Georgia from 1089 until his death in 1125. Popularly considered to be ...

in 1120, Mongol khan Timurleng in 1386,

Safavid Safavid Iran or Safavid Persia (), also referred to as the Safavid Empire, '. was one of the greatest Iranian empires after the 7th-century Muslim conquest of Persia, which was ruled from 1501 to 1736 by the Safavid dynasty. It is often conside ...

shah Tahmasib I in 1538, Persian

Nader Shah Nader Shah Afshar ( fa, نادر شاه افشار; also known as ''Nader Qoli Beyg'' or ''Tahmāsp Qoli Khan'' ) (August 1688 – 19 June 1747) was the founder of the Afsharid dynasty of Iran and one of the most powerful rulers in Iranian h ...

in 1734 but was able to preserve its culture and identity. After the death of Nader Shah in 1747, the region split into independent khanates and sultanates and Gabala became a

Qutqashen Sultanate Qutqashen Sultanate ( az, Qutqaşen sultanlığı) also known as Qabala mahaly ( az, Qəbələ mahalı) was feudal state which existed from the middle to the end of 18th century in the north of Azerbaijan, in the territories covering the present da ...

. It was also called Gabala Mahali. After what is today referred to as The Republic of Azerbaijan was annexed from the Persian Empire, under the Qajar dynasty, by the Russian Empire in 1813 through the consequences of the

Russo-Persian War (1804-1813) The Russo-Persian Wars or Russo-Iranian Wars were a series of conflicts between 1651 and 1828, concerning Iran, Persia (Iran) and the Russian Empire. Russia and Persia fought these wars over disputed governance of territories and countries in th ...

and the resulting

Treaty of Gulistan The Treaty of Gulistan (russian: Гюлистанский договор; fa, عهدنامه گلستان) was a peace treaty concluded between the Russian Empire and Iran on 24 October 1813 in the village of Gulistan (now in the Goranboy Distri ...

of 1813, it conducted administrative reforms and in 1841 the khanates of this region were terminated and the territories were incorporated into

governorate A governorate is an administrative division of a state. It is headed by a governor. As English-speaking nations tend to call regions administered by governors either State (administrative division), states or province, provinces, the term ''govern ...

s. Gabala area was added to

Nukha uyezd The Nukha uezd was a county (''uezd'') of the Elizavetpol Governorate of the Russian Empire and later of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic with its center in Nukha (present-day Shaki) from 1868 until its formal abolition in 1921 by the Soviet a ...

Elisabethpol Governorate The Elizavetpol Governorate, also known after 1918 as the Ganja Governorate, was a province ('' guberniya'') of the Caucasus Viceroyalty of the Russian Empire, with its capital in Yelisavetpol (present-day Ganja). The area of the governorate st ...

. Due to archaeological finds in Gabala, it was declared a National State Reserve in 1985.

Republic era

After the

dissolution of the Soviet Union The dissolution of the Soviet Union, also negatively connoted as rus, Разва́л Сове́тского Сою́за, r=Razvál Sovétskogo Soyúza, ''Ruining of the Soviet Union''. was the process of internal disintegration within the Sov ...

, Gabala embarked on a process of restructuring on a scale unseen in its history. Thousands of buildings from the Soviet period were demolished to make way for a green belt on its shores; parks and gardens were built on the land reclaimed by filling up the foothill of Gabala. Improvements were made in the general cleaning, maintenance, and garbage collection, and these services are now at Western European standards. The city is growing dynamically and developing at full speed on a north axis along the shores of the

Caspian Sea The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland body of water, often described as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. An endorheic basin, it lies between Europe and Asia; east of the Caucasus, west of the broad steppe of Central Asia ...

. As of the 2010s, Gabala is emerging as a magnet for events, such as the summit of

Turkic Council The Organization of Turkic States (OTS), formerly called the Turkic Council or the Cooperation Council of Turkic Speaking States, is an international organization comprising prominent independent Turkic countries: Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzs ...

in 2013. In 2013, the city was declared the Cultural Capital of the

Commonwealth of Independent States The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) is a regional intergovernmental organization in Eurasia. It was formed following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. It covers an area of and has an estimated population of 239,796,010. ...

, in recognition of its long contribution to the history of Azerbaijan and the region.

Geography

The geographical position and mountainous relief of the city greatly influenced on formation of complex climate conditions in the vertical droughty area, as well as on density of river network and richness of soil-vegetation cover. Relief and humid climate conditions of Gabala region led to formation of a thick river network in the area. The rivers of the city refer to the left branches of

Kura Rúben de Almeida Barbeiro (born August 21, 1987 in Leiria), better known as KURA, is a Portuguese electro house music DJ and producer. Kura has released tracks through labels such as Hardwell's Revealed Recordings, Flashover Recordings, M ...

basin and run directly into Kura or the rivers of the Shirvan zone. The city is rich with

chestnut The chestnuts are the deciduous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Castanea'', in the beech family Fagaceae. They are native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. The name also refers to the edible nuts they produce. The unrelat ...

and

hazelnut The hazelnut is the fruit of the hazel tree and therefore includes any of the nuts deriving from species of the genus ''Corylus'', especially the nuts of the species ''Corylus avellana''. They are also known as cobnuts or filberts according t ...

trees. Flora and Fauna of the district is rich. Deer and mountain tours, wild boar, hare, bears, wolves, foxes and numerous birds – pheasant, grouse, francolin, etc. can be found in the woods. These features attract hunters.

Economy

The economy of Gabala is partially agricultural, partially tourist based, with some manufacturing industries, mainly for food preserves, tobacco and silkworm cocoon drying. The city's main manufacturing companies are involved in engineering, construction, brewing and distilling and food manufacturing. There is also "Beltmann" piano factory, whose piano-maker is Hans Leferink - the grandson of Johann Beltmann who, in 1901, founded a similar business in the

Kingdom of the Netherlands , national_anthem = ) , image_map = Kingdom of the Netherlands (orthographic projection).svg , map_width = 250px , image_map2 = File:KonDerNed-10-10-10.png , map_caption2 = Map of the four constituent countries shown to scale , capital = ...

. Various factories operate in the district, such as juice factory and nut factory.

Tourism and shopping

Qabala is a tourist destination due to the combination of its spring climate, mountainous landscape, and diverse

fauna Fauna is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is ''flora'', and for fungi, it is '' funga''. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively referred to as '' biota''. Zoo ...

. There are many world-class hotels and resorts, most part of the Qafqaz chain. Natural climatic conditions of the region create opportunities for the development of both summer and winter tourism in the region. The northern side of Qabala belongs to the southern slopes of the Greater Caucasus mountain range, the central part to Alazan-Haftaran valley, the southern part to Ajinohur upland. Furthermore, the highest mountain peak of the republic- Mount Bazarduzu (4466 meters) is situated in this region. Also located in Qabala is Yeddi Gozel Waterfall. The name means 'seven beauties' due to the seven stages of the falls but also reflecting a classic

Nizami Ganjavi Nizami Ganjavi ( fa, نظامی گنجوی, lit=Niẓāmī of Ganja, translit=Niẓāmī Ganjavī; c. 1141–1209), Nizami Ganje'i, Nizami, or Nezāmi, whose formal name was ''Jamal ad-Dīn Abū Muḥammad Ilyās ibn-Yūsuf ibn-Zakkī'',Mo'in, ...

story. The waterfall, situated in woodlands west of Vandam, is climbed by thousands of people each year - the lower levels being accessible by stairways. The city contains "Qabaland"

amusement park An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, as well as other events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusement park that bases its structures and attractions around a central ...

, an ice skating rink and a Greek-style theatre, rental houses, built especially for outside concerts. Gabala also has severa
qebelede kiraye evler
shopping malls. Qabala is home to the Tufandag Ski Complex, rated the best

ski resort A ski resort is a resort developed for skiing, snowboarding, and other winter sports. In Europe, most ski resorts are towns or villages in or adjacent to a ski area – a mountainous area with pistes (ski trails) and a ski lift system. In North ...

in Azerbaijan and one of the foremost in the Caucasus. The complex serves up to 3,000 people a day.

Culture

Since 2009, city has been home of

Gabala International Music Festival Gabala International Music Festival is an annual festival of classical music held every summer beginning in 2009 in Gabala, Azerbaijan. The festival is organised with the support of Heydar Aliyev Foundation at the initiative of the rector of the ...

, which included performances from classical and jazz performers such as

Al Jarreau Alwin Lopez Jarreau (March 12, 1940 – February 12, 2017) was an American singer and musician. His 1981 album '' Breakin' Away'' spent two years on the ''Billboard'' 200 and is considered one of the finest examples of the Los Angeles pop and R ...

and the

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London, that performs and produces primarily classic works. The RPO was established by Thomas Beecham in 1946. In its early days, the orchestra secured profitable ...

. Gabala also boasts many museums such as Historical Ethnography Museum of Gabala and Gabala Cultural Centre, most notably featuring Folk Theatre named after

Jalil Mammadguluzadeh Jalil Huseyngulu oghlu Mammadguluzadeh ( az, Cəlil Məmmədquluzadə; 22 February 1869 – 4 January 1932), was an Azerbaijani people, Azerbaijani satirist and writer. He was the founder of Molla Nasraddin (magazine), ''Molla Nasraddin'', a ...

Landmarks

Receiver and Transmitter of Pechora Radar

Qabala is known for the ruins of an ancient walled city, Chukhur Gabala, dating back to the 4th century BC. The city has a large war memorial, numerous ancient stone houses and the Rashidbek monument, which is shaped like a huge book. Another landmark is the large

Qabala Radar Gabala Radar Station (; ) in some sources Gabala is spelled ''Qabala'', other names are Lyaki, Mingacevir and Mingechaur was a Daryal-type (NATO Pechora) bistatic Passive electronically scanned array early warning radar, built by the Soviet Un ...

station, on the southern horizon as seen from Gabala, is one of only two Daryal-type missile early warning stations in the former

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

Parks and gardens

Qabala has large sections of greenery either preserved by the National Government or designated as green zones. The city includes "Qabaland", which is the largest amusement park in Azerbaijan.

Sports

The city has one professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

team competing in the top-flight of

i football – Gabala, currently playing in the

Azerbaijan Premier League The Azerbaijan Premier League ( az, Azərbaycan Premyer Liqası) is a professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the Azerbaijan football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. It is conteste ...

. The team was managed by former

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

player

Tony Adams Tony Alexander Adams (born 10 October 1966) is an English former football manager and player. Adams played for Arsenal and England, captaining both teams. He spent his entire playing career of 19 years as a centre back at Arsenal, making 672 ...

in 2010–11 season. The clubs holds its home games in the

Gabala City Stadium Gabala City Stadium is a multi-use stadium in Gabala, Azerbaijan. It is currently used mostly for football matches and is the home stadium of Gabala FK Gabala Football Club ( az, Qəbələ Futbol Klubu ), also spelled Qabala, is an Azerbai ...

. The Qabala Horse Racing Complex is used for

horse-racing Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic pr ...

tournaments. As of 2013, there is Qabala Shooting Club functions in the city.

Cuisine

The district has rich cuisine as other Azerbaijani regions. Popular local dishes include Qabala plov (rice),

Dolma Dolma (Turkish for “stuffed”) is a family of stuffed dishes associated with Ottoman cuisine, and common in modern national cuisines of regions and countries that once were part of the Ottoman Empire. Some types of dolma are made with whol ...

with nut, Dovga, Uchgulag, and types of chigirtma (chicken chigirtma, , , fresh green beans chigirtma, etc.).

Transport

Public transport

Qabala is linked by regular bus and minibus to Baku, and less frequently to other regional centres. Within the city there are three numbered minibus routes running once or twice an hour.

Air

Qabala Airport Qabala International Airport ( az, Qəbələ Beynəlxalq Aeroportu) is an airport serving Qabala (also known as Qəbələ or Gabala), the capital of the Gabala district ('' rayon'') in Azerbaijan. The airport was officially opened by President ...

is around 20 km south of the city. There are twice weekly flights to Baku and international connections to

Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...

and

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

Education

There are 4 primary schools, 5 secondary schools and 4 special schools in the town.

Healthcare

Qabala Central Regional Hospital is the largest hospital in the city, Qabala Children's Hospital and Qabala Treatment and Diagnostic Center, which specialises in rehabilitation and long-term illnesses and conditions.

Regional media

During the USSR period, "Galibiyyat" newspaper was published in Qabala. Currently, a group of young people created Gabalacity.net website which gives information about Qabala aiming to develop the tourism potential of the district. Today "Qabala" newspaper is being published in the region which was first published on 15 October 1933 as "Bolshevik Mubarizi". Qabala Region Executive Power manages the publication of "Gabala" newspaper. Nadir Atakishiyev is leading the newspaper. Qəbələ rayonu

Climate

Qabala has a humid continental climate (''Dfa'') close to the borderline of the humid subtropical climate (''Cfa''). Climate of Qabala is warm-temperate with dry winters in low areas, cold and damp in high mountains and the annual precipitation is 500–600 mm in the south, and up to 1600 mm in the northern high mountains.

Picture gallery

File:Qabala153.jpg, Gabaland amusement park File:Ancient Gabala00.jpg, Ancient Qabala fortress File:Ancient Gabala02.jpg, Archeological site of Qabala fortress File:Ancient Gabala05.jpg, Archeological excavations File:Ancient Gabala09.jpg, Archeological excavations in Qabala File:Ancient Gabala10.jpg, Ceramic finds File:Gabala lake.jpg, Qabala lake File:Handicraft Gabala Azerbaijan 01.jpg, Handcraft birds File:Handicraft Gabala Azerbaijan.jpg, Handcrafting is a special form of art in Qabala File:Waterfall Gabala Azerbaijan.jpg, Waterfall in Qabala

References

External links

*
Site of Executive Power of QabalaIntroducing Gabala
presented by Mark Elliott {{Authority control Populated places in Qabala District Capitals of former nations Elizavetpol Governorate Caucasian Albania