A certain part of historical constructions and monuments of Azerbaijan has kept variety of architectural secrets until these days.  As Azerbaijan is situated at the crossroads of the East and the West, and because of its geographical position it always created favourable conditions for merchants, masters, numerous camel caravans from various parts of the world. People settled in Azerbaijan from various parts of the East had brought their own architectural elements to Azerbaijan.

Goychay miracle  

Hazrat bey Aghazade, a rich man in Goychay, had this bathhouse built for his daughter as a dowry. It is the oldest building located in the centre of Goychay. The underground bathhouse monumental complex, which was built in the XIX century, has its secrets: the place and passage through which where and how the wastewater from the bath flows still remains a secret.

There were held some researches in this aspect, but exact results were not achieved. This fact itself confirms the architectural mystery of the building. However, it is not the only peculiarity of the bathhouse. The bathhouse goes down under the ground for two metres. It was built in a square shape; and it has three big oval halls; two for women and one for men.      

Secrets of the Maiden Tower

There are various legends on the Maiden Tower, also known locally as Giz Galasi, located in the Old City, Baku. Masud Davudoghlu, a famous architect, built the tower in the 12th century. There are various legends on the history of the tower, its construction and battles that happened there. Less is spoken about its majestic architectural aspects that have their own secrets.  The "most majestic and mysterious monument" of Baku is on the solid rock foundation. From the top, the tower looks like the figure 9. Some attempts were made so that the tower could resemble not only the figure 9 but also buta - an almond-shaped ornament with a sharp-curved upper end. According to our mythology, buta is the symbol of fire, light and the Sun. There are eight windows out of which four upper windows are located in such a disposition that on December 22nd, on the winter solstice, the sun shoots its beams through these windows and lightens the inside of the tower. It is thought that on the shortest day of winter the priests carried out religious ceremonies. The fact that the sun shoots its beams through these windows only once a year is astonishing. This factor was reflected on the Russian military-engineering maps of the XIX century. The Maiden Tower was named "Khunsar". It meant "Ansar Sun" or "Sun Tower".

According to scientists, many more elements of the tower were considered for the observation of the solar and star cycles.

The Baku two mysterious bathhouses

One of these bathhouses is Haji Bani. The bathhouse was built in the late XV century. The customer was Haji Gayib. The architect was Haji Bani, and therefore the bathhouse was named after him. As a main element of Muslim cities of that time, the bathhouse was built on the caravan road, and it is distinguished by its large size. Foreign caravans that wanted to enter the city, first, had to wash in the bathhouse located near the tower wall, and then could pass to the city.       

In 1964, there were held archaeological studies in the bathhouse, and architectural samples of ancient Indian architecture were discovered.  The rich wall cover system gives elegancy even to the interior of small cameras.   

The other bathhouse was constructed during Shirvanshah I Khalilullah ruling near the Salyan Gate. The planning structure of the bathhouse is based upon the traditional methods of local architecture. It consists of a vestibule part, dressing and washing premises as well as the treasure and fire chambers. The dressing and washing premises have crossing domes and cameras in corners. Water supply and the heating system were implemented through the angle pipelines inside the walls and under the floor.

Elmin NURI