Saki (or Sheki) is a city in North-west Azerbaijan.

General Outline

One of the most ancient settlements and cultural centres of Azerbaijan, Sheki was founded more than 2700 years ago at the southern slopes of the Major Caucasus Mountains Chain (370 kilometres (230 miles) to the north-west from Baku). Image File history File links Map of Azerbaijan showing Saki sahari. ...

There is a suggestion that the name of the town goes back to the ethnonim of the Saks, who reached the territory of Azerbaijan in the 7th century B.C. and peopled it for several centuries. In the medieval sources, the name of the town is found in various forms such as Sheke, Shaki, Shaka, Shakki, Shakne, Shaken, Shakkan, Shekin. For a long time the town was known under the name of Nukha.

Location

Sheki is situated in northern Azerbaijan on the southern part of the Greater Caucasus mountain range. 325 km (200 miles) from Baku. Baku (or Bakı [Baky]) pronounced ba-KEY, Баку or Bakı in Azeri, باکو (Baku) in Persian) is the capital of Azerbaijan. ...

Population

The total population of Sheki is 63,000

History

The original settlement dates back to the late Bronze Age. Sheki is famous for the 18th century summer palace, which housed the Khan. Sheki also played a major role as an important stop on the silk route. The Bronze Age is a period in a civilizations development when the most advanced metalworking has developed the techniques of smelting copper from natural outcroppings and alloys it to cast bronze. ... The Silk Road (Traditional Chinese: 絲綢之路; Simplified Chinese: 丝绸之路; pinyin: sī chóu zhī lù) was an interconnected series of routes through Southern Asia traversed by caravan and ocean vessel, and connecting Changan, China with Antioch, Syria, as well as other points. ...

During its millennial historical the town used to be devastated many times, so the most part of the historic and architectural monuments currently preserved are dated to the 16th-19th centuries. For many centuries, Sheki has been famous as the basic centre of silkworm-breeding. Located on the left bank of the river Kish, originally the town sited lower down the hill, however Sheki was moved to its present location after a devastating mud flood in 1772. As the new location was near the village of Nukha, the city became also known as Nukha, until 1960 when it reverted back to the name Sheki, after the Sak tribe. 1772 was a leap year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... 1960 was a leap year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ...

Economy

Sheki's possesses a small silk industry and relies on its agricultural sector, which produces tobacco, grapes, cattle, nuts, cereals and milk. Species N. glauca N. longiflora N. rustica N. sylvestris N. tabacum Ref: ITIS 30562 as of 2002-08-28 Tobacco () is a broad-leafed plant of the nightshade family, indigenous to North and South America, whose dried and cured leaves are often smoked (see tobacco smoking) in the form of... Species Vitis acerifolia Vitis aestivalis Vitis amurensis Vitis arizonica Vitis x bourquina Vitis californica Vitis x champinii Vitis cinerea Vitis x doaniana Vitis girdiana Vitis labrusca Vitis x labruscana Vitis monticola Vitis mustangensis Vitis x novae-angliae Vitis palmata Vitis riparia Vitis rotundifolia Vitis rupestris Vitis shuttleworthii Vitis tiliifolia Vitis... Binomial name Bos taurus Linnaeus, 1758 Rainbow arching over a paddock of cattle Cattle are domesticated ungulates, a member of the subfamily Bovinae of the family Bovidae. ... Hazelnuts from the Common Hazel Persian Walnut nuts Chestnuts // Botanical definition A nut in botany is a simple dry fruit with one seed (rarely two) in which the ovary wall or part of it becomes very hard (stony or woody) at maturity. ... Cereal crops are mostly grasses cultivated for their edible seeds (actually a fruit called a caryopsis). ... A glass of cows milk Milk most often means the nutrient fluid produced by the mammary glands of female mammals. ...

Nature

Mountains and oak trees surround Sheki. During the Soviet period, many ascended to Sheki to bathe in its numerous mineral springs. Soviet redirects here. ... Mineral water is water containing minerals or other dissolved substances that alter its taste or give it therapeutic value. ...

Community

Sheki residents are known for their sweet tooth. Delicious sweets, like halva are made from old and secret recipes, which the residents keep well guarded. Residents of Sheki speak a little different which causes other visitors to smile upon hearing them talking. Sheki also has specific words like yaraf and yelpenek that do not exist in other distincts of Azerbaijan. Probably the most famous feature of Shekinians are their comic tales. Sheki's comic tales hero Haci Dayi is the subject of nearly all jokes here.