Takiya

About Takiya

A historical architectural monument located in Baku, Azerbaijan.

The Takya (Təkiyə) is a 13th-century historical monument in the Old City of Baku, standing on Gazi Muhammed Street near the fortress walls and built in the era of the Shirvanshahs. A takya was a lodge for dervishes, a place where Sufis gathered, lived and performed their devotions, like the tekkes and khanqahs found across the medieval Islamic world, and it is also known locally today as the Takya Mosque. The building was registered as a national architectural monument by decision No. 132 of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Azerbaijan dated 2 August 2001. It is a small, modest building of the pale limestone from which the whole Old City is built, with a simple domed hall and a low entrance, and over the centuries it has merged into the fabric of the surrounding houses so that passers-by hardly notice it. It belongs to the oldest layer of the Old City, predating the Palace of the Shirvanshahs by two centuries, and bears witness to the presence of Sufi orders in medieval Baku. It makes a brief stop for lovers of Islamic history on a tour of Icheri Sheher, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, between the Muhammad (Siniq Qala) Mosque and the Palace of the Shirvanshahs.

Where:

Baku, Azerbaijan