The mausoleum of Nizami Ganjavi stands about six kilometres east of Ganca near the road to Baku, on the site of the old city destroyed by the earthquake of 1139. The current monument — a slender, elegant marble structure about twenty metres tall — was built in 1991, replacing a Soviet-era obelisk from the 1940s. Behind it, an open sculpture garden displays scenes from Nizami's poems rendered in metal.
The mausoleum is a significant pilgrimage site for Azerbaijanis, who regard Nizami as the country's greatest literary figure. The setting, on the outskirts of the old Ganca ruins near the abandoned aluminium factory, is not conventionally attractive, but the monument itself is genuinely impressive and the sculpture garden is unusual. A small museum nearby covers Nizami's life and work.