Nakhchivan City is the capital of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, an exclave of Azerbaijan separated from the main country by Armenian territory. The city stands at around 1,000 metres in the foothills of the Zangezur range on the right bank of the Nakhchivan River. It is an ancient place — Ptolemy mentioned it by name in the 2nd century BC — and has served as a regional capital under successive rulers including the Atabek Eldegiz emirate in the 12th century and the Nakhchivan Khanate in the 18th.
The outstanding historic monument is the Momine Khatum Mausoleum, a 12th-century ten-sided tower of turquoise-glazed brick decorated with geometric patterns and Kufic script, considered a masterpiece of medieval Islamic architecture. Built by the architect Ajami of Nakhchivan, it stands near a companion octagonal tomb, the Yusif ibn Kuseyir Mausoleum. The city's other significant cultural sight is the Huseyn Javid Mausoleum, a modern white marble monument to the Azerbaijani poet who died in a Soviet labour camp under Stalin. The blue-domed Imamzade Mosque and the Juma Mosque with its large dome are also worth seeing. The Palace of the Nakhchivan Khans gives a sense of the city in its 18th-century khanate period, and the traditional Tomb of Noah speaks to its deep mythological roots.
Nakhchivan City has a university, several museums, a drama theatre, and a puppet theatre. The exclave's isolation — it has no land connection to mainland Azerbaijan — gives it a particular self-contained character. Road and air connections to Turkey and Iran compensate in part, and the city has consulates from both countries along with Russia.