Baku Fortress Wall, Baku

Baku Fortress Wall is part of the medieval defensive system surrounding Baku’s Old City. It was built around 1138–1139 during the reign of Shirvanshah Manuchohr III.

A second, outer line of fortress walls was later built during the reign of Shirvanshah Akhistan I. For centuries, Baku was therefore protected by a double set of walls. The outer wall was gradually demolished under Russian rule during the 19th century, with the demolition completed in 1888. The inner wall is the principal defensive wall that survives today.

By the early 20th century, concern had grown over the preservation of the remaining fortifications. In 1910, Colonel P. I. Martynov, then Baku’s mayor, emphasized that existing laws prohibited further destruction of the ancient fortress remains. He also called for damaged sections to be documented and repaired, both to preserve the historic structure and to protect residents from possible falling masonry.

In 2000, the fortress walls became part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site officially known as the Walled City of Baku with the Shirvanshah’s Palace and Maiden Tower. Much of Baku’s 12th-century defensive walls survives around Icheri Sheher, enclosing the historic center of the city together with its gates, towers, mosques, caravanserais, and other medieval monuments.