Established 1920 Director Naile Velihanly | Type History museum Phone +994 12 493 23 87 | |
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Location H. Z. Taghiyev Street 4, Baku, Azerbaijan Collection size Archeological, Numismatic, Ethnographic Public transit access M 1 Sahil metro station Address 4 Haji Zeynalabdin Taghiyev St, Baku 1005, Azerbaijan Similar National Art Museum, Nizami Museum of Azerbaija, Palace of the Shirvanshahs, Baku Museum of Miniature, Azerbaijan Carpet Museum | ||
baku azerbaijan capital
National Museum of History of Azerbaijan (Azerbaijani: Milli Azərbaycan Tarixi Muzeyi) is the largest museum in Azerbaijan, located in Baku, in the former mansion of Azerbaijani oil magnate and philanthropist Haji Zeynalabdin Taghiyev. It was founded in 1920.
Contents
History
The building of the Museum was built in 1893–1902. The Italian Renaissance-style mansion is immense and takes up an entire city block. There are four floors in some parts of the building. It was designed by Polish architect Józef Gosławski.
When the Red Army entered Baku in April 1920, Taghiyev's residence – like that of other wealthy oil barons – was immediately confiscated. Under a resolution of the USSR People's Commissariat, the residence was established as a museum in June 1920, only two months after the Bolsheviks took Baku.
Architecture
On the second floor of Taghiyev's residence, side by side there are two major ballrooms. One is based on Oriental designs (Mauritanian) style and the other, on Occidental design. The Oriental Room has enormous plate glass windows, gilded arches, highly ornamental walls, ceilings and chandeliers. The lines in the Occidental Room are more perpendicular to each other – rectangular.
According to photographs that are about 90 years old, one of the most elaborate rooms was Taghiyev's wife's boudoir (private sitting room). All of the movable furniture and paintings in this room have disappeared. Nothing remains today except the ornate mirrored mosaic ceiling. During the Soviet period, four layers of white paint were applied over the highly decorative floral designs on the walls. Still in the main halls of the residence, the original paint has withstood the passage of time incredibly well. The paint was made of finely ground egg shell as was the practice of artists of Byzantine icons. Nearly 100 years later, the original colors with their subtlety and sophistication have neither faded nor chipped.
Departments
The museum has more than 2000 exhibits and includes the following departments: