Shaki and the Palace of the Shaki Khans

Shaki lies in the north-west of Azerbaijan, on the southern slopes of the Greater Caucasus. In the 18th century it was the capital of the Shaki Khanate. The town is famous for silk, shebeke latticework and sweets — above all Shaki halva — and for piti stew.

The Khan's Palace was built in 1762. Its façade is decorated with shebeke panels assembled from thousands of small pieces of wood and coloured glass without nails or glue, and its walls are covered with paintings of hunting and battle scenes.

The "Historic Centre of Sheki with the Khan's Palace" was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2019. Shaki was the Cultural Capital of the Turkic World in 2016.