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Azerbaijan Carpet Museum — A Building Shaped Like a Rolled Carpet

The museum building on the Boulevard looks like a rolled carpet. Inside are thousands of carpets and the story of a key Azerbaijani craft.

Azerbaijan Carpet Museum — A Building Shaped Like a Rolled Carpet
© Bernard Gagnon / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0

The National Azerbaijan Carpet Museum is one of Baku's top museums. Founded in 1967, it moved in 2014 to a new building on the seaside boulevard that looks like a partly rolled-up carpet.

Carpets on display
© Interfase / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

The collection

Its holdings include thousands of items: carpets, carpet products, textiles, embroidery, jewellery and ceramics. The oldest pieces date from the 17th century. Displays explain the differences between weaving schools — Quba, Shirvan, Ganja, Karabakh, Tabriz and Baku.

Carpet weaving — UNESCO heritage

In 2010 Azerbaijani carpet weaving was inscribed on UNESCO's intangible heritage list. You can often watch weavers at work and see how many months a single carpet takes.

Tips

  • Allow 1–1.5 hours.
  • Audio guides and tours are available in several languages.
  • Afterwards stroll along the Boulevard — Little Venice is minutes away.

Want to buy a carpet? Read our souvenir tips.

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