National Museum of History of Azerbaijan

The National Museum of History of Azerbaijan, located in Baku, is the country’s largest museum, founded in 1920. It houses over 300,000 exhibits, including archaeological artifacts, ethnographic items, and fine arts, reflecting Azerbaijan’s diverse history and culture.

Planning your visit

The National Museum of History of Azerbaijan occupies the former mansion of Haji Zeynalabdin Taghiyev, an oil millionaire who rose from stonemason to become the country's greatest philanthropist in the late nineteenth century — funding schools, including the first secular school for Muslim girls in the Russian Empire, theatres, and the water supply for Baku.

The house alone justifies the visit. Several rooms are preserved as he furnished them, including an oriental hall of extraordinary carved and gilded woodwork.

The collection runs to over 300,000 objects covering archaeology from the Palaeolithic, ethnography, carpets, weapons, coins and the modern period — including the brief independent republic of 1918 to 1920, the first secular democratic state in the Muslim world, which granted women the vote before Britain or the United States did.

The Soviet annexation and the events of Black January 1990 are covered.

It sits in central Baku near the Old City.

Bookable options include guided tours. Current availability is shown below.