Heydar Aliyev — the longtime Soviet-era leader of Azerbaijan and later its president after independence — was born in Nakhchivan, and the city honours him with one of the more elaborate of the many Aliyev museums across the country. The exhibition covers his early life, political career, and the foundational role he played in modern Azerbaijani statehood.
For visitors with an interest in late-Soviet and post-Soviet politics in the Caucasus the museum is informative; for the casual tourist it is mostly hagiographic. The building itself is a grand modern structure that has become part of Nakhchivan's official-civic ensemble, near the parliament and several other state institutions.