4. Synagogue of Mountain Jews

Synagogue of Mountain Jews

Attraction Synagogue
SITE OVERVIEW

The Mountain Jews’ synagogue building in Baku has been in existence since 1945. After the end of World War II, the mountain Jews were given an ancient building in the city center to meet their religious needs. The Synagogue of the Mountain Jews in Baku has been functioning since 1945. After World War II, mountain Jews were given an ancient building for religious needs in the center of the city. The building was in poor condition and praying here was quite unpleasant. The building was restored after Azerbaijan gained independence. The opening of the synagogue after reconstruction was on April 5, 2011. Today it is a must-visit place for all guests of the country who are interested in the Jewish heritage in Azerbaijan, apart from its main purpose as a synagogue.

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Sites

The Jewish cemetery of Oguz

The Oguz Old Jewish Cemetery has not lasted to the present time day. The early twentieth-century shifts, the coup, and the repression of the clerics and religious servants, followed by the war, had to have repercussions on the cemetery's destruction. In addition, the Oguz Jewish cemetery is situated on a deciduous forest mountainside. The old graves were washed away by rains and floods, and tree roots ended up moving the tombstones, hiding them beneath the ruins. As result, the old graves are barely visible.   Rahimov Karim, through his father's will, facilitated the dissection and construction of a new cemetery in 1930. The territory of the cemeteries now has trails and gazebos for visitors to rest. The memorial to the Great Patriotic War participants
Sites

Muju cemetery

Although Jews began to leave Muju in the 1860s, no one remained in the village after the unrest of 1918, when they were threatened by Armenians and fled to different parts of the country. During that time, the village's Jewish cemetery was also destroyed. Only a few graves from as recently as the 1910s have survived. It has now been restored, and the land has been cleared and fenced in. On a separate small stone podium, small headstones are displayed. When people didn't have enough funds, they erected small tombstones and replaced them with larger ones when they could.

Sites

Arch Bridge

Of the seven bridges that existed in the Guba region between the 17th and 19th centuries, this is the only one that still remains. This longest bridge was built in 1894 by Alexander III to strengthen Russia's military presence in the Caucasus, replacing a wooden bridge built over the Gudialchay river in 1851. Originally, a 19-span bridge was planned. However, due to landslides during construction, lower numbers were chosen. The bridge has 14 spans, a total length of 275 meters, and an 8-meter width. Because of its multi-span design, the bridge can withstand powerful massive flooding and mudflows that raise the river's water level. This is Azerbaijan's only bridge of this type from the nineteenth century. The bridge is now only used by pedestrians and offers a spectacular view of Red Village. It provides easy access to Red Village from Nizami Park, the city's oldest park. The bridge has been designated as an architectural landmark by the state. Many young Mountain Jews have relocated to cities to further their education and learn trades. The burnt bricks used to build the old bridge saw many changes in Red Village, from the heyday of religious life in the early twentieth century, when the village had 13 synagogues, to the arrival of Soviet power and subsequent religious repression, to soldiers being escorted to the front in World War II, many of whom never returned. It has come to represent the settlement and the close ties between two cultures: the Muslims of Guba and the Jews of Red Village.  
Sites

Great Patriotic War monument

Monuments to soldiers who died fighting for peace and freedom have been designed and built throughout Azerbaijan. Red Village is home to one of them. On June 22, 1941, Azerbaijan, as part of the Soviet Union, joined the Great Patriotic War to defeat fascism. The Nazi command was particularly interested in Baku's oil during the war and attempted to seize control of it during the battles for the Caucasus.

Sites

Memorial Board of Albert Agarunov

Albert Agarunov, who was born in Baku's Amirjan settlement, joined the Azerbaijani army as a volunteer during the First Karabakh War in 1991. He was able to eliminate 9 tanks and 7 armored personnel carriers in only a few months as a tank commander in the 777th Special Battalion. However, on May 8, 1992, while climbing out of his tank to separate the bodies of fallen comrades, he was shot by a sniper. On the battlefield, he was killed. Albert Agarunov was posthumously honored as a "National Hero of Azerbaijan" in 1992 for his bravery and heroism in defending Azerbaijan's territorial integrity and civilian population. Both the mullah and the rabbi prayed at Albert Agarunov's memorial service. He was laid to rest in The Alley of Martyrs, located in Baku. Albert had numerous opportunities to leave Azerbaijan, but he chose to stay and fight for his country. His valiant life continues to be a symbol of Azerbaijan's centuries-long Jewish-Muslim unity and brotherhood. During the Second Karabakh War in 2020, when Azerbaijan liberated its lands after 30 years of occupation, Albert remained a hero and source of inspiration for all of Azerbaijan.
Sites

Gisory Cemetery and grave of Rabbi Gershon

Gisori is one of the main neighborhoods of the Red Settlement. Gisori is one of several neighborhoods that make up Red Village. Former residents of this neighborhood are laid to rest in Gisori Cemetery, one of Red Village's oldest cemeteries, located on the hill's steep slope. The earliest gravestones in this cemetery were erected between 1807 and 1814. They are approximately 80cm tall and made of fieldstone, with inscriptions chiseled into the stone slab. Other early 19th-century tombstones are plain rectangular stela. Simple ornaments in the form of an open rosette first appeared on stones in the mid-nineteenth century, and those from the second half of the 19th century are adorned with leaves and David's stars. The inscriptions are framed by a pointed arch. A pointed arch frames the inscriptions.
Sites

Heydar Aliyev Park

This park, named after Azerbaijan's national leader, Heydar Aliyev, was built in 2011 for the local community and visitors. The area of the cafe includes gardens with blooming roses, benches for visitors to rest, an administrative office, and a teahouse for the village elders. In the park, there is a well-known club and teahouse where local agsakkals (literally "white beards," or village elders) gather to drink tea and play backgammon, free of charge.  The club teahouse is built on the site of a synagogue that was built in 1911 and subsequently transformed into a manufacturing site during the Soviet era before being demolished.
Sites

Maternity hospital

From the main street, one of Red Village's most spectacular and unique structures may be spotted. Despite its remarkable coloring, the building organically blends into the architectural and historical character of the settlement. The structure was built in the second half of the nineteenth century and was designated as a historical monument of local significance.  The murals on the front portraying children, as well as the simple plaque over the door, reveal that this historical building was formerly a maternity hospital. According to stories of locals, the building formerly belonged to a wealthy Jewish businessman who, despite never having children of his own, covered it with murals of happy children's faces.
Sites

Mikveh

Telman Benyaminov initiated the construction of both Mikvehs in 2013. The mikve for women was erected in honor and memory of his mother, Shushan Bat Mardahay. The mikvah construction incorporates an ablutions pool, as required in Judaism. Mikvah is now practiced not just for family purity, but also for the initiation of male and female proselytes into Judaism. A woman must bath in the mikvah at the end of her monthly menstrual cycle in order to maintain marital purity. As a result, the mikvah, more than the synagogue, is considered as the grounds of Jewish family life.  Only "living" water - that is, water of natural origin - can deliver spiritual purification. As a result, a mikvah is built to seem like natural water.
Sites

House of the Agababayev merchant family

  Trade was the primary occupation of Red Village residents at the turn of the twentieth century. Some were highly successful, with shops not just in Red Village, but also in Guba and Khachmaz. Among them was the Agababayev family, who traded carpets.   The Agababyevs were among the first family to settle themselves in Red Village's Gileki district. Several generations later, the brothers Ikhiil, Asaf, and Nuvakh became carpet experts, Guba being one of Azerbaijan's key carpet hubs. Asaf worked his way up through the carpet trade, traveling Turkey and Iran.  The Agababayevs' residences had running water and electricity, which was exceptional at the time. They also owned a large garden on the outskirts of town.   Unfortunately, the building is currently sealed, but the magnificent architectural elements of the front facade may be observed from the little yard in front of the house.
Sites

Red Village Tourist Information Centre

The Red Settlement Tourism Information Center provides comprehensive information on the settlement, including history and facts, the Jewish people of Azerbaijan, places to visit, and so much more. Souvenirs, Mountain Jews cuisine books, kippahs, postcards, tiny carpets, and kosher jam varieties are available here. Visitors may also get cool and hot drinks, as well as snacks, from the center's little barista station.
Restaurants

Manzara

Enjoy the greatest delicacies of Azerbaijani, Turkish and European cuisines, in one of the newest restaurants in Baku, while taking in the stunning views of Baku city from the Highland Park. It's worth mentioning that "mənzərə" means landscape or scenery, which you'll undoubtedly love from the top of Highland Park.

Nearby Sites

Sites

Memorial board of Lev Landau

One of the USSR’s finest physicists and the first physicist from Baku to win the prestigious Nobel Prize, Lev Landau is an undoubted star in the history of Baku’s Jewish community. He was born on 22nd January 1908 in the oil settlement of Balakhani, where his father served as a senior engineer in the oil company owned by the Rothschilds – the famous Jewish dynasty who played a great role in developing Baku’s oil industry. Later the Landaus moved to an apartment in this elegant Oil-Boom era building in central Baku on the corner of Samad Vurghun and Nizami streets. The young Landau showed a great talent for science from early childhood and at the age of just 14 was admitted to Baku State University, where he studied physics and chemistry (later dropping chemistry). In 1924 he left Baku to immerse himself in studying theoretical physics at Leningrad State University, from which he graduated in 1927. During his working life he served as head of the physics department of the National Scientific Centre at the Institute of Physics and Technology in Kharkiv, and later of the theoretical department of the Institute for Physical Problems of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR in Moscow. Landau was revered as a teacher and made world-famous by his many discoveries and theories in topics such as nuclear theory, solid-state physics, quantum field theory and astrophysics. For his groundbreaking work concerning condensed matter, especially liquid helium, he won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1962, the same year he sustained serious injuries in a car crash that led to his premature death 6 years later.
Sites

Solomon Gusman and Lola Barsuk Memorial

Memorial represents Solomon Gusman and Lola Barsuk, who once lived in this house. They were were outstanding members of Baku’s Jewish community. Another important point on the Jewish map of Baku is the memorial board on Alovsat Guliyev Street to Solomon Gusman and Lola Barsuk on the house where they lived. Both were outstanding members of Baku’s Jewish community. Solomon Gusman, born on 9th May 1904, was a famous doctor who served in the Caspian Flotilla and as a military doctor during World War II. After the war he worked at the Sabunchu hospital, as well as teaching at the Medical Institute. His wife Lola Barsuk, born on 7th April 1916, was a famous linguist and researcher at the Institute of Foreign Languages and later at the Mirza Fatali Akhundov Azerbaijan State Pedagogical Institute of Languages. Prior to her career as a foreign language expert, she was an actress. Their two sons, Yuliy Gusman and Michael Gusman, are an award-winning cinema and theatre director and a journalist and TV reporter respectively of the USSR and the Russian Federation.
Sites

Rashid Behbudov State Song Theater

Originally built as a synagogue in 1901, the State Song Theatre is now a popular theatre for musical and other performances. The synagogue was active in 1910-1934. The building is in the Greek Revival style, with an Ionic order portico, and in the ornamented pediment there is a central lyre where the symbol for tablets of stone once featured.The Theatre building was originally built as a Synagogue in 1901.The theatre's repertoire consists of folk songs, mugams and tasnifs, as well as of works of national composers like Uzeyir Hajibeyov, Gara Garayev, Fikrat Amirov or Tofig Guliyev.
Sites

Chabad Or Avner Jewish School

The only Jewish school in Azerbaijan, opened by Heydar Aliyev Foundation and Or-Avner Foundation in 2011 year. The school has 450 students, who study in Hebrew and Russian languages. Jfuture and Enerjew student clubs focus on assisting students understand Jewish values and provide them with the intellectual and spiritual tools they need to succeed in life. They also celebrate traditional Jewish holidays such as Rosh Hashanah, Pesah, Purim and others with interactive games, stories of history and traditions, festive meals, competitions and so much more.
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See the overwhelming reaction from the press, by downloading our free pressbook. Special thanks to Moshe Gilad of the @haaretzcom for highlighting this forgotten but important story in the Galeria section of the newspaper and available to download on WJT.

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