Villa Petrolea is a historical district located in the
Keshla
Keşlə (; Кешлә, کشله; also Keshly, Keshlya, Kəşlə, Keşlä, Kešlæ, Kishly, Kishlya, Kishty, Kişli and Kitly) is a settlement and municipality in Baku, Azerbaijan. It has a population of 25,626. The Keshla area is becoming main b ...
municipality 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 a ...
, Azerbaijan. Built by the
Petroleum Production Company Nobel Brothers (also known as Branobel) in 1882, it served to accommodate workers of the company. It currently functions as a museum of the Nobel brothers in addition to housing a number of offices and businesses.
History
By the end of the nineteenth century, eastern parts of Baku (then the main oil extraction centre of the
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...
) constituted an industrial region unsuitable for civil residence due to heavy pollution. The only structures were oil refineries, port buildings and temporary housing for oil workers. In order to get the administrative and technical personnel of Branobel (including specialists from Sweden, Norway and Germany) to settle in this area, a settlement providing favourable living conditions was built here. It was located on the eastern end of the industrial Black City neighbourhood, near the village of Keshla.
[Ш. Фатуллаев. ГРАДОСТРОИТЕЛЬСТВО БАКУ XIX — начала XX веков. АКАДЕМИЯ НАУК АЗЕРБАЙДЖАНСКОЙ ССР ИНСТИТУТ АРХИТЕКТУРЫ И ИСКУССТВА]
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/ref> It was built on the land rented by Branobel from the Keshla farmers for 49 years.[Tamara Humbatova. Villa Petrolеa, Monument to Nobel Family's Good Deeds in Baku](_blank)
. ''Echo''. 8 May 2012.
The territory of the settlement named Villa Petrolea (Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
for "oil estate") included residential buildings, a Swedish-German school, a theatre, a hospital and a family mansion of the Nobel family completed in 1884 and designed by an unknown architect. The mansion remained in the Nobels' possession until nationalization
Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately-owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to pri ...
in the 1920s.[Вебсайт Baku Nobel Heritage Fund (BNHF) and the Baku Nobel Oil Club (BNOC)]
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Branobel employees lived in one- or two-story wooden cottages with stone foundations. The lower levels of the largest building housed the office, whereas the top levels included a club, relaxation rooms and a library. The rooms were decorated with rich carpets both woven locally and imported from Persia
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
. The cottages were located on a slope descending to the Caspian shore, therefore the window of each cottage overlooked the sea. The buildings were built in the Byzantine style
Byzantine architecture is the architecture of the Byzantine Empire, or Eastern Roman Empire.
The Byzantine era is usually dated from 330 AD, when Constantine the Great moved the Roman capital to Byzantium, which became Constantinople, until the ...
. The settlement grew as more recreational facilities, such as a bowling hall, a pool hall and a tennis court, were built here in the 1890s. By the 1911, the residents had established numerous performance and athletic clubs.
The life in Villa Petrolea went into decline at the advent of World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
when German and Austro-Hungarian nationals were expelled from the Russian Empire. The settlement was nationalized in 1919.
The park
The Villa Petrolea park had an area of 10.5 hectares and designed by landscape architects from Poland. The oil-saturated earth was covered by fertile soil shipped from Lankaran
Lankaran ( az, Lənkəran, ) is a city in Azerbaijan, on the coast of the Caspian Sea, near the southern border with Iran. As of 2021, the city had a population of 89,300. It is next to, but independent of, Lankaran District. The city forms a dis ...
, the subtropical part of Azerbaijan. The problem of fresh water was solved by constantly importing water from the Volga
The Volga (; russian: Во́лга, a=Ru-Волга.ogg, p=ˈvoɫɡə) is the List of rivers of Europe#Rivers of Europe by length, longest river in Europe. Situated in Russia, it flows through Central Russia to Southern Russia and into the Cas ...
on ships travelling from Astrakhan
Astrakhan ( rus, Астрахань, p=ˈastrəxənʲ) is the largest city and administrative centre of Astrakhan Oblast in Southern Russia. The city lies on two banks of the Volga, in the upper part of the Volga Delta, on eleven islands of the ...
which used it as ballast instead of sacks of sand.
Plants were brought from the subtropical parts of the Caucasus, as well as from various cities across Russia and Europe. In total, about 80,000 plants, including fruit trees, were planted in the garden.
After the establishment of the Soviet rule, the park was expanded to 15 hectares, and in 1931 it was named Rote Fahne (German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
for "Red Banner") which marked the handing over of the Transferable Red Banner
Red Banner (russian: Красное знамя) was a symbol of revolutionary struggle used late Russian Empire, in Soviet Russia, and in the USSR and the background of the Soviet state flag and other similar flags.
Military units, instit ...
from the oil workers of Baku to the Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
proletariat in 1925. In 1941, due to the Nazi attack on the Soviet Union, the park was renamed Nizami Park
The Nizami Park ( az, Nizami parkı) is one of the oldest parks in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan. It is located in the Xətai raion, Khatai district of the city on the territory of the Villa Petrolea, a residential settlement built by the Nobel ...
, which name it carries to this day.
Modern state
Reconstruction of the Nobel mansion
In the Soviet times, the buildings fell in disuse. They living quarters were demolished, while the theatre and the club were destroyed in a fire. The mansion was largely neglected prior to the 2000s. In 2004, a public organization named the Baku Nobel Heritage Fund was established. Under its leadership, the Nobel mansion was completely restored and renovated. On 25 April 2008, it opened its doors for its first visitors.
Museum
After the reconstruction, Villa Petrolea has been housing the Baku Nobel Oil Club, the International Conference Hall and the Nobel Brothers Museum, the first Nobel museum outside Sweden. The museum contains possessions of the Nobel family. Even though the interior of the mansion is not completely the same as it was prior to the departure of the family from Baku, some elements, such as fireplaces, were very precisely recreated.Первый канал. Хочу знать. Выпуск от 15 июля 2010
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Major events
On 9 October 1888, Emperor Alexander III of Russia
Alexander III ( rus, Алекса́ндр III Алекса́ндрович, r=Aleksandr III Aleksandrovich; 10 March 18451 November 1894) was Emperor of Russia, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Finland from 13 March 1881 until his death in 18 ...
visited Villa Petrolea with his family where he met the children of the recently deceased Ludvig Nobel
Ludvig Immanuel Nobel ( ; russian: Лю́двиг Эммануи́лович Нобе́ль, Ljúdvig Emmanuílovich Nobél’; sv, Ludvig Emmanuel Nobel ; 27 July 1831 – 12 April 1888) was a Swedish-Russian engineer, a noted businessman and a ...
, one of the founders of the settlement.
On 17 December 2010, Ludvig Nobel's great-grandson Filip Nobel organized a special event marking the establishment of the Nobel International Fraternity Fund aimed at the development of sciences in Azerbaijan.
Gallery
File:Villa Petrolea back.jpg , Back side of the Museum of Nobel Brothers
File:Villa Petrolea Dining room.jpg, The museum's dining room
File:Villa Petrolea Oriental.jpg, The museum's Oriental room
References
{{Baku landmarks
Museums in Baku
1882 establishments in the Russian Empire
Nobel family