Baku, July 30, AZERTAC The city of Gabala is the administrative center of the Gabala region of Azerbaijan, located at an altitude of 900 meters above sea level, in the lower part of the Bazar-Yurt and Tufan gorge, in the foothills of the Greater Caucasus, on the right bank of the Damiraparanchay river. The Gabala region bears the name of the ancient city of Gabala (Kabala) located 20 km south-west of the present center of the district, which appeared at the end of the 4th and the beginning of the III centuries BC, and lasted until the middle of the 18th century. Today Gabala is a developed city, one of the centers of culture and tourism of Azerbaijan. Here operates an international airport, comprehensive infrastructure projects are being implemented, international festivals are held.Here are just some of the interesting sights of Gabala. Gabala Museum of History and Local Lore The Gabala Museum of History and Local Lore, founded in 1980, stores more than 12,000 exhibits of historical and scientific significance that cover 2,500-year period of the history of Gabala. The museum has 13 exhibition halls, a museum fund, an art gallery, a scientific library, an exhibition of ancient stone sculptures in the open air. There are samples of pit burials of II-I centuries. BC. and the sarcophagus of the VI century.Special attention is drawn to archaeological, ethnographic and numismatic materials, samples of folk art, ancient manuscripts and books.This cultural center closely cooperates with the leading museums of the republic and scientific research institutes of the Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences.The museum periodically conducts educational activities, creates conditions for teaching history and literature.Director of the museum is Khalis Mammadov, appointed in 1980, who was awarded the honorary title of Honored Worker of Culture of the Republic of Azerbaijan.The museum has a very well-groomed yard, in which roses are abundantly blooming, fruit trees such as pears, apples, peaches and even exotic banana trees are grown there.The museum address is: Gabala, Ismail Beka Gutkashenli street, 40.Working hours: daily from 9:00 to 18:00. Free admission. The village of Nidzh The largest village in the Gabala district is Nidzh, located 40 km south-west of the district center. In the village, whose population is about 4,000 people, the ancient Udin people, professing Christianity, live. Well-groomed, with beautiful houses and large gardens, the village of Nidzh covers an area of 100 square meters. km and is famous for its abundantly fruitful gardens. Fruits and nuts are grown here, and the crops are mostly for sale.The village has an ethnographic museum, five secondary schools, three - Russian schools with compulsory teaching of the Udin language and two - Azerbaijani, where the study of the Udin language - at the request of the students.The village consists of several blocks: "Chotari", "Agdalakki", "Goja Beyim", etc., some of which preserved the ancient Albanian churches. One of them - the Chotari church of the 17th century, which is the pride of the villagers, is still working today.In the village of Nidzh there is also an ancient cemetery of the 16th-17th centuries. On the most ancient tombs there are river boulders without any inscriptions. Approximately from the XIX century preserved stones containing texts and drawings. All inscriptions are made in Udin language.The people here are hospitable. For you, with pleasure will arrange a tour of the village, will acquaint with all the sights, treat with national dishes. Do not forget to visit the local bazaar, where fruits, vegetables, nuts, spices and other gifts of this fertile land are sold in abundance. The village of Boom At 7 km from the district center at an altitude of 1200 meters above sea level there is a village with a funny name Boom - the third largest city and a municipal center in the Gabala district. The population of the village is more than 5 thousand people. The municipality consists of the villages of Boom, Zergerli and Garasu. In the village of Boom, such historical monuments as the ancient Juma Mosque, built in 1882, the ancient house of Shikhmamed, one of the first centers of the Christian religion-the Kilesedag Temple, the 18th-century Govur fortress, with underground rooms, have been preserved.The village of Boom is also famous for its folklore. The local folklore ensemble is called "Zop-Zopu", in honor of the shepherd's game with the same name, which is accompanied by musical instruments: nagara and zurna. Two guys dressed as camels entertain their friends. One of them bends down, the other guys, reading poems, jump through it, and after jumping, shout "Anzli". The village of Vandam One of the largest villages in the country is located 11 km from the regional center of Gabala. Local residents joke that the movie star Jean-Claude Van Damme is actually a native of their village. The village is almost in the territory of a huge ancient cemetery. But there are also many orchards, a special place among them is the apple garden, where a variety of apples "Gizilahmed" is grown, which grows only in the Gabala and Ismaili zones. In the village there is also a carpet workshop, workshops for woodcarving.And at the foot of the mountain, in the recreation area of Duyma, you can rent horses and enjoy a horseback ride in the neighborhood. The village of Kusnet In the north of the Gabala region at an altitude of 1000 meters above sea level, the village of Kusnet is located. Once this village was the summer residence of Ismail-bek Gutkashensky - a writer and military figure, the first Azerbaijani national, the Chevalier of the Order of St. George. The local population is mainly engaged in pottery. Here you can see the process of creating pottery and buy souvenirs. The local potters sell their products throughout the district. Yeddi Gözəl Waterfall One of the most popular tourist destinations in Gabala is Yeddi Gözəl (7 beauties), located in the mountains 6 km from the village of Vandam, and 3 km from the main road over the village of Puskan. Water, falling from different precipices, forms here a 7-step waterfall. From below you can see only two small lower waterfalls. To look at the other five, you need to climb the steep stairs to the top, which will require some physical strength. However, those who overcome this path will be rewarded with an amazing panorama that opens from above. There are restaurants and teahouses here. The waterfall is in a dense forest, where almost no sunlight penetrates, so it's always dark and cool. The Mysykh Waterfall In the north of the village of Laza, on the left slope of the river Demiraparan, in the terraces are the ruins of Mysykh. In the old days this village was built under a huge rock. Rockfalls strongly destroyed this settlement. Due to the fact that communication with this village was difficult, people left these places. 7 kilometers from Laza, to the north-east of the ruins of the village of Mysykh is a large and noisy waterfall. You can get there by horse in 1.5 hours. It is better to go to the waterfall with the local escorts, as an inexperienced person will find it difficult to cope with the horse on this site. In the beginning, a small waterfall appears before you, but it takes a long time to go to a large waterfall. Finally, after 3 hours of travel, 20 kilometers from the district center, above the village of Durcha, at the foot of the Caucasus Mountains, your view is a waterfall Mysykh, which rushes down from a steep rock, a height of 54 meters. The severity of the path drops from the shoulders at the sight of such beauty. To go closer to the waterfall, you need to go a fairly long stretch of the road. It is necessary to move skipping from stone to stone the size of a large truck. Finally the waterfall disappears behind the rocks. Now you need to crawl through a narrow stone tunnel, where one person can hardly fit. Finally you are at the goal, at the huge bowl of the waterfall, from the noise of which the ears are laid, and the spray flies in all directions, refreshing the weary traveler. Gabaland Gabaland or Qafqaz Park is the largest entertainment center not only in Gabala, but throughout the region. This grandiose amusement park is located on the territory of 16 hectares, and contains more than 40 entertainment facilities: attractions, carousels, artificial lakes with catamarans, a swimming pool-water park, football, basketball, volleyball, go-karting. For visitors there is a complex for climbers, facilities for extreme sports, an indoor ice rink, boats falling into the water from an 8-meter height, etc. Every day this center is visited by an average of about a thousand people, and at the same time up to 800 people can use its services. Festival of jam If you find yourself in Gabala in August, do not fail to visit the International Jam Festival, where you can taste unusual varieties of jam. So last year more than 3500 kinds of jam from 25 countries and 45 cities and regions of Azerbaijan were presented at the festival. The jury of the festival consists of eminent international experts in the field of cooking and the best chefs from those or other countries. The official part of the event is a contest, during which the jury chooses and awards the best varieties of jam in various nominations. Along with completely traditional types of jam, for example, strawberries, apricots, plums, blackberries, quinces, cherries and other common fruits, you can see exotic varieties here. Such as jam from potatoes, cucumbers, young eggplants, pepper, ginger, mint, dandelions, pumpkin seeds, rosemary, beets and other ingredients unusual for the preparation of this dessert. Emil Eyyubov