Shamakhi opens the 366-guest Pirqulu Park mountain hotel and the 120-hectare Nasimi Gardens

The Pirqulu Park hotel complex has opened in the village of Pirqulu in the Shamakhi district. President Ilham Aliyev and First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva attended the opening on 17 September, and a press tour of the new facilities was held the following day.

A hotel at 1,500 metres

The complex stands on a 16-hectare site at 1,500 metres above sea level. According to project manager Ahad Aliyev, it has two hotel buildings with 188 and 172 beds, 175 rooms in total across several categories, plus two cottages. Altogether it can host 366 guests at a time.

Besides restaurants and cafés, there is a 160-seat hall for meetings and training sessions, a congress building for 600 people, a children’s entertainment area and an amphitheatre. In other words, the resort is built for conferences and corporate events as well as family holidays.

Nasimi Gardens across 120 hectares

The Nasimi Gardens leisure complex has opened nearby. Project coordinator Zahra Taghiyeva said it covers 120 hectares, with more than 150,000 plants set out across the grounds. Visitors will find the themed Magic Village cabins built in the style of hobbit homes, the child-oriented Honey Nest café, a large playground and a 9-metre lookout tower. Works by around 100 painters and sculptors are on display in the park.

What this means for travellers

Above all, the Shamakhi district now has a year-round resort on a scale comparable to what Gabala and Shahdag offer. Pirqulu is about two hours’ drive from Baku, closer than most of the country’s mountain resorts, so a weekend in the mountains no longer has to mean the long road north.

Second, a 600-seat congress building changes the seasonal pattern. Business groups arrive on weekdays and outside the peak, so occupancy will be higher in autumn and winter. Independent travellers should check in advance whether a large event has booked out the complex on their dates.

Third, the first months after an opening are almost always the busiest, especially at weekends. If you want peace and quiet, go midweek, and book the Magic Village cabins early: themed accommodation sells out faster than standard rooms.

Fourth, one night in Pirqulu easily grows into a full itinerary. The Shamakhi Astrophysical Observatory is in the village itself, the Juma Mosque and the Yeddi Gumbez mausoleums are in the district centre, the Diri Baba mausoleum in Maraza lies on the road from Baku, and over the pass begins the Ismayilli district with Lahij. Two days are enough to combine mountain air with history and crafts without returning to the capital.

Photo: Diego Delso / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0