Culture

Baku fashion week

In what could be the last of its kind in the city, one teahouse close to the historic sulphur baths in the Georgian capital continues to embody the multi-cultural nature of the surrounding neighbourhood. It welcomes a diverse clientele to play backgammon, share news and memories, and, of course, drink tea.

This year, Azerbaijani-Georgian communities across Georgia came together to celebrate Novruz with a variety of events and festivities.

Uzbekistan is ever more popular with tourists thanks to its trio of majestic Silk Route cities, Samarkand, Bukhara, and Khiva. But what about the far west of the country? Mark Elliott heads to Nukus, the capital of Karakalpakstan.

Khiva, Uzbekistan is the Silk Route’s most memorable city claims veteran travel writer Mark Elliott who first visited back in 1994 when he counted a mere 7 foreign visitors in town. These days it’s an understandable tourist magnet. Here are Mark’s tips for making the most of a visit.

On September 18, Unesco unveiled 27 new World Heritage features including three in the Caspian Region countries, plus the extension of another in Azerbaijan.

Iranian folk music is always at the forefront of global top charts; find out why it did in 2023.

Today is Jashn-e Sadeh, an Iranian winter festival celebrated each year on the 10th of Bahman in the Iranian calendar and of Mehr in the Zoroastrian, which falls on 30 January.

Even frequent visitors to Iran rarely think of visiting Maragheh, yet its tomb towers and historical observatory site retain distant resonances of a magnificent history.