The Government House of Baku, also known as the House of Government, is a government building housing various
state ministries of
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...
. It is located on
Neftchiler Avenue
Neftchiler Avenue (; literally Oil Worker's Avenue) is an arterial road in Baku, Azerbaijan. It begins at the west end of the Bayil district of Baku and continues east until terminating at Javanshir Bridge (formerly Gagarin Bridge) intersectin ...
and faces the
Baku Boulevard
Baku Boulevard (, also known as National Park) is a promenade established in 1909 which runs parallel to Baku's seafront. Its history goes back more than 100 years, to a time when Baku oil barons built their mansions along the Caspian Sea, Caspi ...
. The rear side of the building faces the busy
Uzeyir Hajibeyov
Uzeyir bey Abdulhuseyn bey oghlu Hajibeyov (18 September 188523 November 1948) was an Azerbaijanis, Azerbaijani composer, musicologist and teacher. He is recognized as the father of Azerbaijani classical music. He composed the music of the AzÉ ...
Street in central Baku. Government House was designed for 5,500 people.
History of the building
From 1924 to 1927, the construction of several large government buildings was planned and included in the budget of
Baku
Baku (, ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Azerbaijan, largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and in the Caucasus region. Baku is below sea level, which makes it the List of capital ci ...
. In 1934, the Soviet authorities announced a tender for the construction of the Baku Soviet Palace (later renamed the Government House). The competition was won by well known architects
Lev Rudnev
Lev Vladimirovich Rudnev (; – 19 November 1956) was a Soviet architect, and a leading practitioner of Stalinist architecture.
Biography
Rudnev was born to the family of a school teacher in Novgorod. He graduated from the Riga Realschule (no ...
, Vladimir Munts and K. Tkachenko (participant). With some alterations to the project, the building of the Government House was built between 1936 and 1952.
The construction of the building also led to the construction of Lenin Square (later renamed
Azadliq Square) in front of the Government House. In 1955, a monument to
Vladimir Lenin
Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov ( 187021 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin, was a Russian revolutionary, politician and political theorist. He was the first head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 until Death and state funeral of ...
facing Azadliq Square sculpted by
Jalal Garyaghdi was installed in front of the building. In addition to this, a large complex of buildings around the Government House was built in 1960 – 1970s which included hotels "Azerbaijan" and "Absheron", 16-story buildings on Uzeyir Hajibeyov street, the building of
Azərpoçt
Azərpoçt is the company responsible for postal service in Azerbaijan.
Azərpoçt was founded on 29 September 1999 by the Ministry of Communication of Azerbaijan, by order "Number 151" titled "On continuation of reforms and improvement of a s ...
.
Lenin's statue was later removed during the Azerbaijani independence movement in the aftermath of bloody
Black January. An Azerbaijan flag now stands where Lenin's statue stood. Lenin square was renamed Azadliq Square (Freedom Square).
After independence
The building housed many organizations and business firms after the restoration of Azerbaijani independence in 1991. After the complete renovation of the building, all business firms were moved to other locations in the city and the offices were provided to governmental organizations. Among them, the
State Committee for Ecology and Environmental Protection, Ministry of Agriculture and Produce, State Committee for Geology and Mineral Resources, State Committee for
Hydrometeorology
Hydrometeorology is a branch of meteorology and hydrology that studies the transfer of water and energy between the land surface and the lower atmosphere for academic research, commercial gain or operational forecasting purposes.
Whilst tradition ...
, State Committee for Material Resources, State Committee for Improvements of Soil and Water Economy.
In 2006, the government of Azerbaijan started renovation works of the building and completed the project in 2010. 40.8 million
Azerbaijani manat
The manat (ISO 4217, ISO code: AZN; Currency symbol, sign: ₼; abbreviation: m) is the currency of Azerbaijan. It is subdivided into 100 ''gapiks''.
The first iteration of the currency emerged in the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic and its succ ...
s were spent on reconstruction and enrichment of the park surrounding the building. Being in the center of Baku, the Government House is among the most visited tourist attractions of Azerbaijan.
[
]
Currently, several ministries including the
Ministry of Culture and Tourism,
Ministry of Agriculture
An agriculture ministry (also called an agriculture department, agriculture board, agriculture council, or agriculture agency, or ministry of rural development) is a ministry charged with agriculture. The ministry is often headed by a minister f ...
,
Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of Population,
State Procurement Agency and the
Copyright Agency of the republic occupy the building offices.
Picture gallery
File:1960 CPA 2417.jpg, The building on a Soviet stamp ''40th anniversary of Azerbaijan SSR
The Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic, also referred to as the Azerbaijani Soviet Socialist Republic, Azerbaijan SSR, Azerbaijani SSR, AzSSR, Soviet Azerbaijan or simply Azerbaijan, was one of the constituent republics of the Soviet Union be ...
''
See also
*
Mayoralty of Baku
References
External links
Google Maps profile
{{Baku landmarks
1952 establishments in Azerbaijan
Baroque architecture in Azerbaijan
Buildings and structures in Baku
Government buildings completed in 1952
Government buildings in Azerbaijan
Presidential residences