# Sheki Old Town (Yukhari Bash) > Sheki Old Town is Yukhari Bash, the upper quarter and core of a UNESCO World Heritage site: cobbled Akhundov Street running down from the fortress gate to the caravanserais, tiled roofs behind stone walls, craft workshops and halva shops. The streets are free and always open; give the walk about 90 minutes with stops. Museums along the way open in the daytime and charge separately. Web page: https://yesgo.io/azerbaijan/sheki/sheki-old-town - City: [Sheki](https://yesgo.io/azerbaijan/sheki), Azerbaijan - YesGo score: 43/100 (Yes, if nearby) - Time on site: 1 h 30 min - Opening hours: Streets open 24/7; shops and cafés in the daytime; museums roughly 9:00–18:00 (unofficial) - With kids: Fine with kids - Entry: Free — these are public streets; only the palace and museums charge - When: Streets always open; shops, cafés and museums in the daytime, museums roughly 9:00–18:00 - Time needed: ≈ 90 minutes on foot from the fortress gate to the caravanserais; half a day with the palace and museums - Start point: South Gate of Sheki Fortress, at the top of Akhundov Street - Getting there: From Sheki bus station, taxi or marshrutka up Akhundov Avenue — ≈ 10 min - Payment: Visa and Mastercard in hotels and bigger restaurants; cash manat for shops, museums and marshrutkas - Closed: Lower Caravanserai under restoration (2025); the underground bathhouse by Juma Mosque is shut to visitors - Footwear: Comfortable — cobbles and a hill - Coordinates: 41.20446, 47.19745 - Facts checked: 02.11.2026 ## Key facts - **Free** — to walk the old town streets; only the palace and museums sell tickets (source: public streets; Monkey's Tale, 2025) - **2019** — Historic Centre of Sheki with the Khan's Palace inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List at the 43rd session in Baku (source: English Wikipedia (Shaki); Russian Wikipedia (Yukhari Bash, Sheki); JAMnews) - **1772** — a flood on the Kish river destroyed the earlier town; people moved uphill to Nukha, today's old Sheki (source: English Wikipedia (Shaki); Russian and Azerbaijani Wikipedia (Yukhari Bash)) - **1968** — Yukhari Bash declared an architectural reserve, by decree of 6 March 1968 (source: Russian and Azerbaijani Wikipedia; Wikidata Q20983704) - **283 ha** — area of the Yukhari Bash reserve (source: Russian and Azerbaijani Wikipedia) - **Nukha** — the town's name until 1968 (source: English Wikipedia (Shaki); Russian Wikipedia (Sheki)) - **1812** — writer Mirza Fatali Akhundov was born in a house on Akhundov Street, now a house museum (source: Russian Wikipedia (Akhundov House Museum, Sheki); Azertag) - **1940 or 1937** — the year the Akhundov house museum opened — sources differ (source: Russian Wikipedia and Wikidata Q20931780 say 1940; Azertag says 1937) - **2014** — kelaghayi silk-scarf making added to UNESCO's intangible heritage list; its two centres are Sheki and Basgal (source: UNESCO, element no. 00669; English Wikipedia (Kelaghayi)) - **Rice flour** — the base of Sheki halva, with hazelnuts, sugar syrup and spices (source: English Wikipedia (Sheki halva); Bucketlistly) ## Is Sheki old town worth it? Yes, if you have more than a couple of hours in Sheki. Most day-trippers see the Khan's Palace and leave; the old town is what makes the place feel like a Silk Road town rather than a single museum. It's free, it's downhill most of the way, and it links every other sight in upper Sheki. Set expectations, though. This is a lived-in neighbourhood, not a polished open-air museum. Some lanes are still cobbled, many are paved; Soviet-era gas pipes run along the walls; and much of the beauty is hidden behind tall stone walls, with only the gates and roofs showing. Some shops sell standard souvenirs rather than local crafts. If you only have an hour, spend it on the palace and the walk to the Upper Caravanserai. > **Free streets, cash behind every door** Walking the old town costs nothing, but each museum has its own ticket, and craft shops, tea houses and marshrutkas mostly want Azerbaijani manat in cash. Cards work in hotels and larger restaurants; ATMs up the hill are few, so withdraw in the lower town or in Baku. The Lower Caravanserai was shut for restoration in 2025 and the underground bathhouse is closed to visitors. ## What is Yukhari Bash? Yukhari Bash means "upper head" — the historic top of Sheki and the name of the state historical-architectural reserve that protects it. The reserve takes in the fortress with the [Palace of the Shaki Khans](https://yesgo.io/azerbaijan/sheki/sheki-khans-palace), the main trading street with its caravanserais and shops, the residential quarters around it, mosques, minarets and bathhouses. Since 2019 this quarter and the palace together have been a UNESCO World Heritage site. The old town is younger than it looks. The earlier Sheki sat lower down in the Kish valley until a flood destroyed it in 1772; people moved uphill to the village of Nukha, which is why the city was called Nukha until 1968. The fortress went up here, and the trading street grew down from its gate on the wealth of silkworm breeding and the cocoon trade. The reserve was declared on 6 March 1968 and covers 283 hectares. ## What to see in Sheki old town, top to bottom - **The gate of [Sheki Fortress](https://yesgo.io/azerbaijan/sheki/sheki-fortress)** — the start of the walk. Inside the walls are the palace, the Round Temple and craft workshops; the grounds are free. - **Palace of the Shaki Khans** — Sheki's highlight, with its shebeke façade and painted halls. Separate ticket, no photos inside. - **[Shakikhanovs' House](https://yesgo.io/azerbaijan/sheki/shakikhanovs-house)** — a noble family's house near the fortress, laid out like a smaller version of the palace's reception rooms. - **Mirza Fatali Akhundov House Museum** — 43 Akhundov Street. The writer and playwright was born here in 1812, and the doorways are so low you bow your way from room to room. - **Akhundov Street itself** — once simply Sheki Street, the town's trading spine. Building heights along it were kept low, so it reads as one ensemble: tiled roofs, arcaded shopfronts, plane trees over the cobbles. - **[Upper Caravanserai](https://yesgo.io/azerbaijan/sheki/sheki-caravanserai)** — a huge two-tier courtyard, now a hotel. Non-guests can step into the courtyard in the daytime. - **Lower Caravanserai** — further down and bigger than the upper one; while it's under restoration, look at the walls and gate from outside. - **The back lanes** — turn off into any side street for tall walls of stone and brick, wooden gates and tree canopies overhead. The quarters still carry old names such as Gileyli, Duluzlar and Sari Torpag. - **[Juma Mosque](https://yesgo.io/azerbaijan/sheki/sheki-juma-mosque)** and the **[Gilahli Minaret](https://yesgo.io/azerbaijan/sheki/sheki-gilahli-minaret)** — if you still have legs for more downhill. ## How long do you need, and when to go Plan on about 90 minutes for the walk from the fortress gate down to the caravanserais, with stops for photos, a workshop and tea. Add the palace, Shakikhanovs' House and a museum or two and it becomes a relaxed half day. Two nights in Sheki let you do the old town at both ends of the day. The streets never close. Museums keep daytime hours, roughly 9:00–18:00 — **unofficial**, and each sets its own schedule — so head into the palace before lunch. Early morning and late afternoon are best: day-trip groups from Baku arrive mid-morning and cluster around the palace and the caravanserai. Akhundov Street runs north-east to south-west, a layout chosen so the sun wouldn't dazzle people walking along it. ## Where to try Sheki halva and piti Sheki halva is nothing like the sesame halva you may know. It's a layered sweet of rice flour, hazelnuts, sugar syrup and spices — cardamom, coriander, saffron — and its layered pattern echoes the shebeke windows. It's made by professional halvachi, not at home, and shops selling it line Akhundov Street. Buy it by weight, freshly cut, and ask for a rigid box: it is sticky and travels badly. Piti is the savoury half of the ritual. Mutton, chickpeas and tail fat — and, in the Sheki version, chestnuts — slow-cook in an individual clay pot. You eat it in two rounds: tear bread into a bowl, sprinkle sumac, pour the broth over it; then tip in the meat and chickpeas and mash them together. Ask the waiter to show you — nobody minds. ## What to buy: shebeke, kelaghayi and crafts Buy where things are made. **Shebeke** is coloured glass set into a wooden lattice without nails or glue; there's a workshop inside the fortress. **Kelaghayi** is a square silk headscarf with block-printed patterns — the craft was added to UNESCO's intangible heritage list in 2014, and its two centres are the city of Sheki and the village of Basgal. The tourism board's Sheki map marks a kelaghayi workshop, the ABAD ceramics centre and Craftsmen's House, which also holds the tourist information centre. Look out for tekelduz embroidery, papakh hats, miniature caskets and folk instruments too. Pay in cash, and look for workshops rather than souvenir stalls if you want the real thing. ## How to get to Sheki old town 1. From Baku: intercity bus or minibus from Baku International Bus Terminal (Avtovağzal) to Sheki bus station — about 4.5–5 hours. The nearest airport with regular flights is Baku (GYD); Gabala (GBB) is closer but has few flights. 2. From Sheki bus station: a taxi or a marshrutka up Mirza Fatali Akhundov Avenue to Yukhari Bash — about 10 minutes. Guides give different route numbers (11, 7, 22), so treat them as unofficial and ask the driver for "Xan Sarayı". 3. Get off at the South Gate of Sheki Fortress at the top of the street — that's your start. Do the palace first, before the groups. 4. Walk down Akhundov Street: the Akhundov house museum and Shakikhanovs' House come in the first few minutes, the Upper Caravanserai after about 700–800 m, around 10 minutes on foot. 5. Keep going down the same street for the Lower Caravanserai and then Juma Mosque — roughly another kilometre downhill on the map. 6. Take a taxi back up to your guesthouse or the bus station; the climb over cobbles after the walk is hard work. ## Old town, fortress or caravanserai? | | Old town (Akhundov Street) | Sheki Fortress | Upper Caravanserai | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | What it is | Trading street and 18th–19th-century quarters | Walls and towers with the palace and workshops inside | Courtyard with galleries, now a hotel | | Entry | Free, always open | Free grounds, paid museums | Courtyard free in the daytime (unofficial) | | Time | ≈ 90 minutes with stops | ≈ 40 minutes without the palace | ≈ 20–30 minutes | | Best for | Anyone staying more than a couple of hours | Everyone — the start of the day | Tea in a historic courtyard | Based on Russian and Azerbaijani Wikipedia, YesGo's fortress and caravanserai pages and travel guides; caravanserai access is unofficial. > **Visiting the mosques: what to wear** If you walk down to Juma Mosque, cover shoulders and knees; women should bring a headscarf. Shoes come off at the prayer hall door. During prayer, wait outside and don't photograph worshippers — the courtyard and minaret are easy to see from the street. ## Before you go: checklist - [ ] Cash manat for museums, halva and taxis - [ ] Comfortable shoes for cobbles and a hill - [ ] Start at the fortress gate before lunch - [ ] Headscarf and covered clothes for the mosque - [ ] Room in my bag for a box of halva ## Historic sites in Sheki compared Every historic site in Sheki rated by YesGo. - [Upper Caravanserai](https://yesgo.io/azerbaijan/sheki/sheki-caravanserai) — YesGo score 44/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 30 min · Courtyard free (unofficial) - [Sheki Fortress](https://yesgo.io/azerbaijan/sheki/sheki-fortress) — YesGo score 44/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 40 min · Free; museums inside extra - [Gilahli Mosque Minaret](https://yesgo.io/azerbaijan/sheki/sheki-gilahli-minaret) — YesGo score 44/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 15 min · Free, viewed from outside - [Sheki Old Town (Yukhari Bash)](https://yesgo.io/azerbaijan/sheki/sheki-old-town) — YesGo score 43/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h 30 min · Free; museums on the way charge - [Juma Mosque](https://yesgo.io/azerbaijan/sheki/sheki-juma-mosque) — YesGo score 43/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 20 min · Free - [Palace of the Shaki Khans](https://yesgo.io/azerbaijan/sheki/sheki-khans-palace) — YesGo score 41/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 45 min · 15 AZN for foreigners (unofficial) - [Shakikhanovs' House](https://yesgo.io/azerbaijan/sheki/shakikhanovs-house) — YesGo score 40/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 30 min · 1–10 AZN (iTicket.AZ) - [Round Temple](https://yesgo.io/azerbaijan/sheki/sheki-round-temple) — YesGo score 40/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 30 min · Free outside; museum fee not published - [Church of Kish](https://yesgo.io/azerbaijan/sheki/kish-church) — YesGo score 33/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h · 15 AZN for foreign visitors - [Galarsan-Gorarsan Fortress](https://yesgo.io/azerbaijan/sheki/galarsan-gorarsan) — YesGo score 32/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 2 h 30 min · Free, open ruins ## Old Sheki in half a day, all downhill The fortress gate, the Khan's Palace, Shakikhanovs' House, the Upper Caravanserai and Juma Mosque. YesGo fits in the timing and transfers. 1. [Sheki Fortress](https://yesgo.io/azerbaijan/sheki/sheki-fortress) — YesGo score 44/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 40 min · Free; museums inside extra 2. [Palace of the Shaki Khans](https://yesgo.io/azerbaijan/sheki/sheki-khans-palace) — YesGo score 41/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 45 min · 15 AZN for foreigners (unofficial) 3. [Shakikhanovs' House](https://yesgo.io/azerbaijan/sheki/shakikhanovs-house) — YesGo score 40/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 30 min · 1–10 AZN (iTicket.AZ) 4. [Upper Caravanserai](https://yesgo.io/azerbaijan/sheki/sheki-caravanserai) — YesGo score 44/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 30 min · Courtyard free (unofficial) 5. [Juma Mosque](https://yesgo.io/azerbaijan/sheki/sheki-juma-mosque) — YesGo score 43/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 20 min · Free ## Good to know Baku's Old City is Icherisheher — a different city and a different UNESCO site. Yukhari Bash is also a district name in other Azerbaijani towns; this page is about upper Sheki only. The fortress, palace and caravanserai have their own pages; this one is the walk between them. ## Tips - Walk top to bottom: from the Khan's Palace to the caravanserais it's all downhill, and a taxi brings you back up. - Duck into side lanes — the best gates and stone walls are in the residential quarters, not on the main street. - Break for tea and halva in the courtyard of the Upper Caravanserai, halfway down. - Buy halva where it's cut in front of you, and carry it in a rigid box — it cracks and leaks on the road. - Give the Akhundov house museum ten minutes: it's described as Azerbaijan's oldest memorial museum, and the low doorways stay with you. - Staying overnight? Add the [church in Kish](https://yesgo.io/azerbaijan/sheki/kish-church) in the morning — about 15 minutes by taxi up the valley. ## Questions ### What is there to see in Sheki old town? The fortress gate and the Khan's Palace, Shakikhanovs' House, the Akhundov house museum, Akhundov Street with its shops and workshops, the Upper and Lower Caravanserais, the back lanes and Juma Mosque at the bottom. ### Is Sheki old town free? Yes. The streets are public and always open. Only the palace, Shakikhanovs' House and the museums charge, each with its own ticket. ### How long do you need in Sheki old town? About 90 minutes for the walk from the fortress gate to the caravanserais with stops; half a day with the palace, museums and lunch. ### Is Sheki worth visiting? Yes — the Khan's Palace and the old town around it are the reason to make the five-hour trip from Baku. Stay overnight if you can, so you see the streets without the day-trip crowds. ### How do I get from Baku to Sheki? Bus or minibus from Baku International Bus Terminal to Sheki bus station, about 4.5–5 hours, then a taxi or marshrutka to the fortress, about 10 minutes. ### Where is the old town in Sheki? In the upper part of the city, around the fortress and along Mirza Fatali Akhundov Street, which runs down from the fortress gate to the caravanserais. It's the Yukhari Bash reserve. ### Where can I buy Sheki halva? In the sweet shops and cafés along Akhundov Street. It's a layered rice-flour and hazelnut sweet in syrup; buy it by weight and in a rigid box. ### Is the old town of Sheki a UNESCO site? Yes. The Historic Centre of Sheki with the Khan's Palace has been on the World Heritage List since 2019. ### Do I need cash in Sheki? Yes. Hotels and bigger restaurants take Visa and Mastercard, but workshops, tea houses, small museums and marshrutkas mostly want manat in cash. ## How we checked Free access is self-evident — these are public streets. We found no official Yukhari Bash reserve website with museum hours or prices, so museum hours are marked unofficial. Sources disagree on when the Akhundov house museum opened — 1940 per Russian Wikipedia and Wikidata, 1937 per Azertag — so we show both. The UNESCO site page could not be opened, so we give the reserve area (283 ha, Russian and Azerbaijani Wikipedia) rather than the inscribed property's area. The distance to Juma Mosque is estimated from Wikidata coordinates. The status of the Lower Caravanserai and the bathhouse comes from a 2025 travel guide and is being checked. Three guides give different marshrutka numbers (11, 7, 22), so none is stated as fact. Payment advice matches YesGo's other Sheki pages: cards in hotels and larger restaurants, cash elsewhere. ## Sources - English Wikipedia: Shaki, Azerbaijan — 1772 flood, Nukha until 1968, UNESCO 2019 - Russian Wikipedia: Yukhari Bash (Юхары баш) — reserve, 1968 decree, 283 ha, quarters, Akhundov Street; Azerbaijani Wikipedia; Wikidata Q20983704 - Russian Wikipedia: Akhundov House Museum (Sheki); Wikidata Q20931780 — address, 1940 - Azertag: sights connected with outstanding figures of Azerbaijan — Akhundov house museum, 1937 - JAMnews: Historic centre of Sheki included in the UNESCO World Heritage List, 7 July 2019 - UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage: element no. 00669, kelaghayi — Sheki and Basgal, 2014 - English Wikipedia: Sheki halva; Piti (food); Kelaghayi - Azerbaijan Tourism Board (azerbaijan.travel) and Sheki DMO visitor map: craft workshops, Craftsmen's House, information centre, card payments - Monkey's Tale: Discover the mountain city of Sheki, 2025 — lanes, gas pipes, Lower Caravanserai under restoration, closed bathhouse - Bucketlistly: Things to do in Sheki — halva, piti, route from the palace to the caravanserai --- This is the Markdown version of a YesGo page for AI assistants. Quote the web page link above, not this file.