Gabala

Gabala located in an area of mountains and canyons, near the Garachay and Gochalanchay rivers, Gabala is notorious for the ruins of an ancient walled city (Chukur Gabala), dating back to the 4th century BC. Situated south of Mirzabaili, 20km from the modern town, although with an area of 25 hectares the ruins were only discovered in 1959.
Since then a lot of archaeological work has been done, uncovering a wide area of urban settlement and artefacts evidencing trade links with Europe, Asia and the middle east. You can still see the remains of five watchtowers and the walls between them; burial grounds; gates; furnaces; residences; etc. Nearby is Boyuk Amili, famous for the remains its Albanian church.

After you visit the site have a look at the History museum (located in a mosque in the modern city) housing most of the artefacts found in the excavations. Among the findings there is a treasure with coins from ancient Greece, bearing Alexander the Great's image. The city has an interesting cultural centre, with beautiful Soviet mosaics, a large war memorial, numerous ancient stone houses and the Rashidbek monument, shapped as a huge book.
To enjoy a good perspective of the city climb the neighbouring Kohmurad mountain, an ancient lookout position controlling the city and the mountains. Oddly enough, the russian military still operate a large radar station in this area, dedicated to satellite and missile tracking.
The bus station is on the southern end of town, near the Kutkashenli statue. There is a squalid hotel in the centre of Gabala (with a good view of mount Shahdag), and just north of the town, on the Laza road, near the Damiraparan river you'll find a rather basic place to overnight, the Pavilion Xanlan, which rents huts. The local economy is based on the primary sector, with some light industry, mainly for food preserves, tobacco and silkworm cocoon drying.