In Ganja, you will frequently encounter references to the great poet Nizami Ganjavi and his mausoleum, located in the historic part of the city. It is important to note that the Nizami Ganjavi Mausoleum marks not the official, but rather the presumed burial site of the poet.
This monument was erected relatively recently, in 1991, and is located in the northwest section of the old town, where Nizami once lived, created his masterpieces, and passed away. The mausoleum stands at the entrance to Ganja from the southwest side, a region the poet called home throughout his life.
It replaced an aging stone mausoleum built in the 1940s, which had been erected on the site of a destroyed ancient mausoleum. According to academician Barthold, the first mention of Nizami’s mausoleum dates back to 1606, though its original appearance and the identity of its builders remain unknown.
For centuries, Nizami’s tomb has been a revered pilgrimage site. The first historical record of the tomb appears in the chronicles of Iskander Beg Munshi, a historian at the Safavid court. He wrote that in late February 1606, Shah Abbas I arrived in Ganja and camped near the mausoleum of Sheikh Nizami, where he celebrated the Novruz festival on March 24.
During the Russo-Persian War of 1826, a decisive battle took place near Nizami’s mausoleum. Russian forces under General Ivan Paskevich defeated the Persian army, forcing them to retreat. Russian ambassador to Persia, Alexander Griboedov, mentioned in his diary a conversation with the writer and historian Abbas Kuli Agha Bakhikhanov, who was working with the Russian diplomatic mission at the time. Bakhikhanov informed Griboedov that the Battle of Elisabethpol took place near Nizami’s mausoleum.
By the mid-19th century, the ancient mausoleum had fallen into ruin but was rebuilt by Mirza Adigozal-Bek of Karabakh. However, within a few decades, it once again deteriorated. In 1873, the Persian ruler Nasir al-Din Shah Qajar, on his way home from his first European trip, passed by Nizami’s tomb. He described it in his diary as “a very dilapidated brick structure” situated about half a league from Ganja.
In 1925, the tomb was surveyed by J. Alexandrovich, who concluded that the mausoleum in place at that time was of a later origin, with no traces of the original structure remaining. By 1932, only the foundation and a few rows of brickwork from the later mausoleum remained. In 1940, excavations were conducted in anticipation of the construction of a new monument on the site. These digs revealed that the surviving above-ground fragments were part of a later restoration, while the foundation and stonework found deep underground were remnants of the original 13th-century mausoleum.
In 1947, a new mausoleum was constructed from limestone. However, emissions from a nearby aluminum factory led to its rapid deterioration by the late 1980s. In 1991, a new complex was built, which included not only the mausoleum but also a park and a sculptural group depicting scenes from the poet’s works. The architectural design was created by Farman Imamkuliev, while the sculptor was Gorkhmaz Sujaddinov. The new mausoleum was constructed from solid granite blocks brought in from Ukraine.
The modern mausoleum is a monumental structure, standing about 20 meters tall, with a cylindrical shape, crafted from red granite, and polished to a smooth, rounded finish. At the base of the monument is the entrance to the mausoleum, which appears modest in comparison to the grandeur of the overall building. Nizami’s name is inscribed in gold above the entrance. Adjacent to the mausoleum is a bronze monument illustrating the epic poems of Nizami.
In 2011, Ganja hosted celebrations marking the 870th anniversary of the poet’s birth. Prior to the festivities, renovation and restoration works were carried out at the mausoleum site. A park of the same name was also established next to the monument. A museum dedicated to Nizami was opened opposite the mausoleum.
