Gobustan - reserve in Azerbaijan: description, artifacts, opening hours, how to get there

The rocks of Gobustan, located to the south of Baku, are witnesses of the prehistoric period of the existence of primitive people. One of the business cards of Azerbaijan is the main pride of the country. Rock paintings made by an ancient man, perfectly preserved and transferred to several centuries ago.

Unique drawings on the rocks

Images that have a thousand-year history are a unique phenomenon for all mankind. In the reserve they are represented in huge numbers. The legacy of the ancient civilization is of great interest to scientists and ordinary visitors who celebrate the amazing beauty of the open-air museum.

Almost fifteen thousand years ago, the first petroglyphs appeared, through which people expressed their attitude to the world around them.

Protected petroglyphs reserve

Gobustan is a nature reserve created in 1966. From the Azerbaijani language the name is translated as "Edge of ravines". The purpose of creating a local attraction is to protect the rock paintings and their thorough study by specialists.

Huge popularity for the whole world the mountainous corner has got thanks to certificates about inhabitants of an epoch of the Stone Age and later periods found in the territory occupying not less than 500 hectares. Their number impresses anyone: in the archaeological site is, according to the most conservative estimates, six thousand drawings, called petroglyphs. In 1997, they were inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Scientists are convinced that a unique archive tells about the history of the evolution of a person who begins to declare himself to the world in this way. Over time, the abilities of ancient people are improved, which is reflected in the rock paintings.

An important find

Tourists from all over the world are eager to visit Gobustan (reserve), which is very easy to reach by bus from the capital of the Republic of Azerbaijan, in order to see the images of primitive artists. Carved on the rocks petroglyphs tell about worldviews, culture, occupation of ancient people who settled the country many centuries ago.

It is interesting, but previously no one suspected what artifacts lurk in this territory. Rock paintings were discovered during the ongoing work in the quarry. In the place littered with stones, the workers found images that seemed unusual to them. As the area was cleared, more and more drawings were opened to the eyes of the builders.

Immediately began to work archeologists, who discovered a valuable heritage and made the assumption that Gobustan (reserve) is the cradle of civilization. Research scientists continue in our days.

The world's largest collection

This is the most extensive collection in the world, indicating the life of primitive people. Rock paintings appeared in different epochs, beginning with the X century BC and ending with the Middle Ages. Petroglyphs differing in scope of the historical period are diverse in style, theme and technique of execution. Some images were superimposed on the previous ones, which causes a certain interest of specialists.

The blossoming of primitive art is the bronze age, in which the religious and aesthetic views of the ancient tribes were most fully manifested.

Realistic drawings

What are these drawings? Visitors will see the battle scenes carved out in stone and hunting for wild animals, images of ritual dances, symbolic signs, insects, snakes and fish.

Figures in full size - the most ancient and date back to the Neolithic age, in which there was matriarchy. A woman, often decorated with a symbolic tattoo, was portrayed as a successor to a kind of tribe.

Men appear with bows and arrows. Hunters in loincloths were painted with well-developed muscles and slender bodies. There are images of people leading the round dance. As scientists suggest, such rituals preceded hunting. Ritual dances, accompanied by sounds from primitive musical instruments, were very important.

The dimensions of petroglyphs gradually decrease over time, and the silhouettes of people become more realistic thanks to the use of metal tools.

The First Vikings

There are drawings of oarsmen in the boat, on the stern of which the sun shines. Famous traveler Thor Heyerdahl visited Gobustan many times. The reserve attracted him, first of all, by rock carvings of seamen. Comparing them with similar images in Norway, he suggested that the ancestors of the Vikings first appeared in the Caspian Sea, and later arrived in Scandinavia.

Interesting artifacts

These are not the only artifacts that are of great interest to researchers. In the reserve there are ancient sites, well-preserved tombstones, mud volcanoes. In the caves on a rocky plateau traces of the habitat of people of the Paleolithic period were found.

Unclear even holes in the stones, in which now live poisonous snakes. It is believed that they were the result of the erosion and weathering of rocks, and the multilayered structure of smooth blocks causes many questions.

No less interesting is the huge stone slab at the foot of the mountain with a broken Latin inscription left by the Roman army of Emperor Domitian. His legion in the 1st century AD passed through modern Gobustan.

The reserve, the photo of which gives an idea of the amazing spectacle, is famous for the famous tambourine stone, so named because when tapping it at different points primordial people extracted rhythmic sounds. All ritual dances and ceremonies were accompanied by original melodies, which were issued by the established flat stone slab named "havaldash".

Gobustan (reserve): how to get there

To reach the reserve, located in the village of the same name in the Karadag district, is very easy on public transport. From Baku, at the Bibi-Eybat mosque, that on the outskirts of the city, a bus leaves at number 195. The road to the archaeological monument takes no more than an hour.

Gobustan is a nature reserve, the working hours of which are very convenient for any tourist: from 10.00 to 17.00 without breaks and weekends (except for January 1). Guests are welcome here daily.

Reviews of tourists

All visitors note the unusual beauty of the natural corner, where you can touch the "dawn of humanity". There are many unique places in the world, the artifacts of which indicate the evolution of man, but to enjoy a huge collection of rock art, you must certainly go to Gobustan (reserve). Reviews of tourists who celebrate the greatness of our ancestors are full of enthusiastic words.

Many say that here they touched secret knowledge. In the mystical place there are new sensations, as if the doors open into a forgotten world full of mysteries. A special atmosphere of unity with nature attracts here a huge number of foreigners who confess their love for this place.

The admiring visitors note that the interest is not only an archaeological monument, but also a museum equipped with the latest technology with exposition halls equipped with touch screens, 3D panoramas, laser images.

Gobustan is a reserve within which everyone will be transferred, as if by a time machine, several thousand years ago, when primitive people left their messages to their descendants.