Sheki & the Silk Road
A caravanserai town in the Azerbaijani foothills, a khan's palace of stained glass, and the sweetest halva in the country. Why Sheki is worth the drive from Baku.
A Silk Road town
Sheki, in the foothills of the Greater Caucasus, was a Silk Road trading town, and it still feels like one — cobbled lanes, a restored caravanserai you can stay in, and workshops making silk and the shebeke stained-glass windows the town is known for.
The Khan's Palace
The 18th-century Khan's Palace (Khansarai) is the highlight: a summer residence covered in frescoes and intricate shebeke windows assembled without nails or glue. The historic centre of Sheki with the Khan's Palace is a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Making the trip
Sheki is about four to five hours from Baku, so it works as an overnight — often paired with Gobustan or the Gabala area — rather than a day trip. Don't leave without trying Sheki halva, the town's layered, syrup-soaked speciality. We build it into a wider Azerbaijan route.