"The Oil City" a Baku Travel Page by davido7236

The oil fields outside Baku are huge and old. Tender bidding for exploration leasing was inroduced in 1872. By the end of the 19th century, Azerbaijan was supplying half the world's oil.
It is a weird landscape of pools and derricks near the Caspian coast. Part of the James Bond film 'The World Is Not Enough' in 1999 was shot here (at Bail, Baku). One of the best views is from the aircraft when one is taking off or landing at Heydar Aliyev airport (named after the president).
There are areas further away from Baku where there are 'mud volcanoes' with bubbling pools caused by seismic activity. Azerbaijan has over 300 sites of this type, more than anywhere else on earth. One can drink tea at tea shops while the hill beside you literally burns due to methane escaping through the ground.
There are theories that Zoroaster (who lived about 600 years BC), the founder of the ancient Zoroastrian religion, developed the use of fire in temple worship after possibly witnessing the perpetual methane flares of Azerbaijan's Absheron Peninsula.

Baku has some interesting monuments like this one which I think is to the local resistance fighters. It is in front of the Natavan Building, not far from the Hyatt Regency hotel and Tbilisi Avenue (or Prospekt as they say locally). I was also interested in the Russian insignia carved into local buildings and the varied architecture of some of the older mansions.
One of the best monuments to visit is the ancient and mysterious Maiden Tower near the waterfront in the old town. It seems to have few windows and is of a very unusual shape with one huge buttress. Once it may have stood by the sea front but the sea has moved back since that time.

Near the Natavan Building, Tbilisi Prospekt, in Baku is this great Christmas Tree which is made of a metal frame with small lights inside green bottles. It is there every year and is quite quaint and unusual. Perhaps visit the tree and then go for a nice meal or a drink down town! It looks better at night time.