Gəncə Darvazası

Azerbaijan


This pair of gigantic brick gateways dates from 2014 but is designed to evoke the idea of ancient Gəncə's long-lost citadel portal. The portal's original iron gates were plundered in an 1139 Georgian attack and removed to Gelati.

The site is near the M2 Hwy bypass intersection several kilometres east of Gəncə. Access is via a long feeder avenue that also passes 2km of mock fortress walls and a space-shuttle-shaped mausoleum to Nizami Gəncəvi, the city's great 12th-century poet.


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