Guba-Khachmaz Region

Drive to north capital of Azerbaijan Guba. Arrival to Guba and visit Jewsh Settlement. Across the Kudyal River from Quba is Red Town, the largest Mountain Jewish settlement in the former Soviet Union. Red Town is the only entirely Jewish settlement outside of Israel and the United States, and is the last surviving shtetl. Mountain Jews have been settled in the Caucasus for thousands of years, though there are many different communities and resettlements. Mountain Jews have their own version of Judaism that combines the Old Testament with other traditional practices, as well as a bit of mysticism. They also speak their own language: Judeo-Tat or Juhuri, part of the Persian family. For a long time, there were Jewish communities in Persia, but after their settlements were destroyed by Nader Shah in the 18th century, more and more Jews started looking for new places to live.

State Historical, Architectural and Ethnographic Reserve Khinalig

Drive to Khinalig village. 65 km from the center of Guba - one of the northern regions of Azerbaijan, there is an ancient mountain village - Khinalig. The territory of the village is declared a state historical-architectural and ethnographic reserve, due to which it is compared with an open-air museum. Here the traditional way of life and original architecture are preserved. And the locals speak their own unique language, for the study of which ethnologists from all over the world come here. Finally, tourists go to Khinalig to enjoy the hospitality of the locals and the beauty of the mountain scenery under the immense starry sky.