Sheki: what to see

Palace of Shaki Khans

A two-storey palace from 1762, built without nails, with six rooms and bright shebeke stained-glass windows. Hours 10:00–18:00; ticket for foreign visitors 15 AZN; a guide in a foreign language about 10 AZN (2023).

Tips: photos inside are not allowed. Visitors go in groups of about 15, so there can be a queue.

Sheki Fortress

Built in 1743–1755, with walls about 1,300 m long. Inside are the Khan’s Palace, the art gallery, shebeke and ceramics workshops, a food museum (about 1 AZN) and a tourist centre. Hours 10:00–18:00; the grounds are free.

Upper Caravanserai

An 18th-century Silk Road inn with about 300 rooms around a courtyard with arched galleries. Today it is a hotel, restaurant and tea house. The courtyard is open 11/12:00–19:00, entry free.

Shekikhanovs’ House

An 18th-century house with wall paintings on themes from Nizami’s poems and stained-glass windows. 21 Hikmet Alakbarzade Street; 09:00–19:00; 1–10 AZN.

Albanian Church in Kish

In the village of Kish, about 5 km from Sheki. The church dates from the 10th–12th centuries and was restored in 2000–2003 with help from Norway; inside is a museum of Caucasian Albania. 09:00–18:00; 15 AZN for foreign visitors.

Tip: the last part to the church is a steep walk uphill.

Gələrsən-Görərsən Fortress

Ruins from the 8th–9th centuries on a hill 3–4 km from Kish, linked to a legend about a siege by Nadir Shah. Entry is free. Tip: the climb takes about 15 minutes, is steep and has no signs.

Mosques

The Juma Mosque (1900–1914, minaret 28.5 m) is a working mosque and part of the UNESCO site. The Khan Mosque (around 1769/70) reopened for worship in 2022.

Museums

• History and Local Lore Museum named after Rashid-bey Efendiyev — since 1925, about 5,000 items; from 1 AZN.
• Museum of Applied Arts in the Round Temple — a former Albanian church inside the fortress.
• Art gallery — 5 AZN with a guided tour (2024).

Crafts and masterclasses

• Shebeke: a workshop in the fortress next to the palace runs a masterclass of about an hour; you take home your own small stained-glass piece. Price on request.
• Silk and kelaghayi: Sheki Silk Factory (+994 55 623 82 95) and the kelaghayi workshop of Amiraslan Shamilov below the Upper Caravanserai (+994 50 323 90 90). The kelaghayi silk headscarf is on UNESCO’s intangible heritage list.
• Halva: see Restaurants in Sheki.

Nature and outdoors

• Bio Garden (Oryat village): an agro-park of about 8 ha with around 3,000 fruit trees and a restaurant; good for families with children. 09:00–21:30; +994 50 264 99 90.
• Kish Adasi: a rest area on an island in the Kish river with cottages, picnics, camping and horse rides with an instructor. +994 70 250 5424.
• Kish – Bash Goynuk trail: 14.6 km, about 8 hours, about 1,200 m of climb, marked; season May–September.
• Khan Yaylagi: mountain pastures above the town, 7 km by 4×4 from Marxal or about 3.5 hours on foot. Tip: there are bears in the forest — do not go alone.

Events

The Silk Road festival is usually held in Sheki (the 14th, in July 2025, at the Upper Caravanserai and Marxal); in 2026 the 15th festival took place in Ganja, 1–3 July. Sheki Drama Theatre (since 1976) hosted the 5th International Theatre Festival on 1–5 October 2026.

How much time you need

The palace, fortress, caravanserai and Shekikhanovs’ House fit into one day. Add Kish and the Gələrsən-Görərsən Fortress as a half day; the Kish – Bash Goynuk trail takes a full day.