Sheki (historically known as Nukha, and still sometimes spelled Shaki) sits in the foothills of the Greater Caucasus in northwestern Azerbaijan, surrounded by chestnut forests and mountain streams. It was a major stop on the ancient Silk Road and served as the capital of the Sheki Khanate from the 17th through 19th centuries — a history you can see in the remarkable buildings that survive from that era.
The Xan Saray (Khan's Palace) is the centrepiece: a 18th-century summer palace whose interior walls are covered floor to ceiling in intricate geometric paintings made with no adhesive — the pigments mixed with egg and pressed through stained glass to create patterns that have lasted three centuries without restoration. The Sheki Caravansarai, a huge two-story stone inn from the same era built to house Silk Road traders, still operates as a guesthouse and restaurant, making it probably the most atmospheric place to stay or eat in the South Caucasus.
The town bazaar remains a working market rather than a tourist attraction, selling silk, dried fruits, and the famous Sheki halva — a layered sweet made from rice flour and butter that is pressed with hazelnuts and available in every shop in town. The silk factory still operates on the edge of town and sells directly.
A short drive or taxi ride brings you to Kish, a village with an Albanian Christian church dating to the 1st century AD — one of the oldest continuously used places of worship in the Caucasus. Getting to Sheki from Baku involves a five-hour train or four-hour bus journey northwest through the Kura valley.