M. Mukhtarov's street is one of my beloved ones in Baku. Few of my most favourite buildings in Baku are situated there, so I decided to start my blog showing this street.
Named after famous Azerbaijani oil industrialist and millionaire Murtuza Mukhtarov, who lived at the turn of the centuries, the street is situated in the very centre of the city. Nevertheless, you cannot call it the main tourist route in Baku. I think its beauty is underestimated. This street is combining (and not always organically) old poor one-floor buildings with noble architecturally unique palaces.
The street is an important bus arteria; you may cross it everyday without noticing how diverse and beautiful it is.
In the Soviet times most of the streets were renamed; so was M.Mukhtarov's street. It became Polukhin's street (who was a member of the Russian Revolution), and in my childhood I called this street the Pink street (due to the color of the buildings). Every day I went through it to school and back. Was quite boring back then.
The beginning of the street is grand. Here comes the Marriage Office, so called "Palace of Happiness". As I was a kid, my dream was to get married in this awesome building. Then, they started to renovate it (four or five years ago), and finished only some days ago. Unfortunately, I got married two months before, so the dream of childhood didn't come true. But is it the biggest happiness? Perhaps, not...
Sad story, but let's walk further. Just opposite to the Palace is situated the 11-year Music School named after Bul-Bul. In Baku we have a big network of pre-university music schools, and this school is the biggest and most profound one.
This and two other schools are built in 1930's instead of the Cathedral. The Soviet government generally didn't like religion, so they blew up the church, and built these schools. Not the coolest substitution though...
But let's go back to the presence. This funny mosaic (back of the school) is one of the few things that I remember from the childhood. Hopefully it will stay there forever.
As I said this street is full of buses, but there are no "official" bus stops. Nevertheless, the bus can stop at any spot; all you need is to ask the driver politely.
One of the most famous spots is "TsUM" (Central Univesal Market), from there you can reach easily the downtown. Some surroundings of that quarter:
As I said, the street is really narrow. Because of the random parking, it is possible to pass only for 1 car. So, when the bus stops - all the others have nothing but to wait! :)
Another building, destroyed by the fire, occasionally the day I was taking the photos... Actually, some time ago, when I was studying at school, here was the German Embassy. I was passing it every day.
To be continued...
Named after famous Azerbaijani oil industrialist and millionaire Murtuza Mukhtarov, who lived at the turn of the centuries, the street is situated in the very centre of the city. Nevertheless, you cannot call it the main tourist route in Baku. I think its beauty is underestimated. This street is combining (and not always organically) old poor one-floor buildings with noble architecturally unique palaces.
The street is an important bus arteria; you may cross it everyday without noticing how diverse and beautiful it is.
In the Soviet times most of the streets were renamed; so was M.Mukhtarov's street. It became Polukhin's street (who was a member of the Russian Revolution), and in my childhood I called this street the Pink street (due to the color of the buildings). Every day I went through it to school and back. Was quite boring back then.
The beginning of the street is grand. Here comes the Marriage Office, so called "Palace of Happiness". As I was a kid, my dream was to get married in this awesome building. Then, they started to renovate it (four or five years ago), and finished only some days ago. Unfortunately, I got married two months before, so the dream of childhood didn't come true. But is it the biggest happiness? Perhaps, not...
Anyway, the story of this Palace is charming. In the times before the Revolution, Mister Mukhtarov and his wife went to Italy, and she was so impressed by the architecture, that her generous husband gave her a sweet present: a new home, which was just a tiny bit lower than the Cathedral next to it. This house, or rather, the palace was build by Y.Ploshko as a mixture of classicism, gothics and rococo styles, and is inspired by the very similar palace in Venice.
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| A worrier with the sword and the spear on the top of the building. The god of the war, Mars, is depicted on the spear, which literally means that the master of the house can stand up for himself, and will not give up without a fight. |
After the Revolution came, the Bolshevists were trying to take over the building, so M.Mukhtarov commited suicide inside, without leaving it. ...
Sad story, but let's walk further. Just opposite to the Palace is situated the 11-year Music School named after Bul-Bul. In Baku we have a big network of pre-university music schools, and this school is the biggest and most profound one.
This and two other schools are built in 1930's instead of the Cathedral. The Soviet government generally didn't like religion, so they blew up the church, and built these schools. Not the coolest substitution though...
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| Alexander Nevsky's Cathedral |
As I said this street is full of buses, but there are no "official" bus stops. Nevertheless, the bus can stop at any spot; all you need is to ask the driver politely.
One of the most famous spots is "TsUM" (Central Univesal Market), from there you can reach easily the downtown. Some surroundings of that quarter:
As I said, the street is really narrow. Because of the random parking, it is possible to pass only for 1 car. So, when the bus stops - all the others have nothing but to wait! :)
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| Fidan is quite popular name to name markets... And yes, you can see why I imagined this street as Pink :) |
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| wedding salon |
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