Sheki: Hotels and Accommodations

Sheki’s UNESCO-listed historic center comprises Sheki Khan’s Palace, a fortress, caravanserais, and garden houses with productive uses. Its historic urban landscape is associated with mulberry cultivation, as well as the breeding and processing of silkworms and residential, administrative, and commercial functions.

Culture

Sheki regularly hosts international events, including the Great Silk Road International Music Festival. The Shebeke windows of Sheki Khan’s Palace consist of thousands of colored glass and wooden pieces assembled without glue or nails. Visitors can take guided tours at the palace to learn more about its history and construction method. The building was erected in the late 18th century as an administrative building.

Following its restoration in 2022, the Khan Mosque complex was opened to the public for tourist visits and prayer. In Sheki Fortress, visitors can explore the Museum of Applied Folk Art as well as the Museum of History, Ethnography, and Local Studies.

The Kish Temple, about five kilometers from Sheki, currently serves as the Museum of Caucasian Albania. It displays Bronze Age ceramic remains discovered during joint Azerbaijani-Norwegian excavations.

Handicrafts

Visitors to Sheki can meet local artisans, buy handmade goods, and visit a Shebeke workshop in the fortress. At the Sheki Silk Combine, visitors can observe the production of silk products and learn more about silk production.

Nature

In the wider Sheki area, the Qumux–Qaşqaçay route is fully marked and offers expansive views of the surrounding mountains and valleys. It runs mainly through forest and is suitable for easy walks in nature. Also in the wider Sheki area is the fully marked Baş Göynük–Kiş hiking trail, which leads through forests, summer pastures, mountain landscapes, and wooded valleys.

Cuisine

Local confectionery shops in Sheki hold master classes on making halva according to family recipes preserved for centuries. The halva made in Sheki consists of layered rice-flour dough with walnuts, syrup, spices, and saffron.

Further local navigation: Bideyiz. Those wishing to book a hotel in Sheki can then continue their accommodation search.

To the higher-level travel overview: Shaki.