Content 1. Mosque of Nizami Ganjavi 2. Sheikh Bahauddin`s Ensemble 3. Juma Mosque 4. Chokak – bathhouse 5. Caravanserai 6. Old fortress 7. The Ancient Ganja`s gates 8. Mosque of the Imam-zadeh 9. Javadhan's Tomb 10. Ancient hill fort of Ganja 11. Nizami Ganjavi 12. Mekhseti Ganjavi 13. Javad Khan 14. Fatali Khan Khoysky Pre-reading task 1) What are some of the famous cities in Azerbaijan and in the world? 2) What do you know about Ganja? 3) Have you any information about Nizami Ganjavi? 4) What is the connection between Ganja city and Nizaimi Ganjavi? Mosque of Nizami Ganjavi – XX centure. Ganja is the birthplace of the great Azerbaijani poet Nizami Ganjavi. Nizami Ganjavi made an invaluable contribution to the history of Azerbaijani literature as well as to that of the whole world. Nizami Ganjavi was born in Ganja in the year 1141. He was one of the most educated people of his time. His most popular literature called “Hamsa" (FIVE), made him really famous around the world. Hamsa is a combination of five poems, reflecting not only the high skill of the poet's pen, but also his ethical and philosophical views. Most of Nizami Ganjavi’s writings are devoted to love. His other world-famous works are the poems "Khosrov and Shirin", "Leyli and Majnun", and "Iskender-name". The Tomb of Nizami was a place of pilgrimage for many centuries. Iskander Bek Munshi, a storyteller at the Safavid court, first made mention of the tomb, recorded in historical chronicles. In the chronicle, it was written that at the end of February 1606, Shah Abbas I arrived in Ganja and settled near the mausoleum of Sheikh Nizami, where on March 24 he celebrated the Novruz holiday. Vocabulary Some keywords to remember: birthpace, invaluable, world-famous, century, chronicle, mausoleum, pilgrimage, devotees, homage, granite, facets, grandeur Today, the mausoleum of Nizami Ganjavi is a place of pilgrimage and devotees go there to pay homage to the poet. The Mosque of Nizami Ganjavi is a mausoleum, which was built in 1991 on the alleged grave of poet Nizami Ganjavi. It is located at the entrance to the city from the southwest side, where Nizami lived his whole life and died. The mausoleum is a modern monumental structure of a cylindrical form made of red granite, carved in the manner of semicircular facets. The entrance of the mausoleum is at the bottom, which seems just tiny on the background of the grandeur of the whole building. The name of this great poet is carved in gold right above the entrance. Post reading tasks 1. How did Nizami Ganjavi get world renown? 2. What are some of the literature works of Nizami Ganjavi? 3. The first mention of Nizami Ganjavi tomb was mentioned by who and where? 4. Where is the mausoleum of Nizami Ganjavi located? Sheikh Bahauddin`s Ensemble The main Ganja historical ensemble is the historical and architectural complex created by Sheikh Bahauddin, which includes Juma mosque (Shah Abbas mosque), Chekyak- Hamam (medieval bathhouse) and caravanserai. Pre-reading task 1. What do you know about Mosques? 2. Could you say the names of the Mosques located in your city? 3. Can you describe the main features of a famous Mosque that you know? Juma Mosque – XII centure. The Juma mosque was built in the XII century (1606), during the reign of Shah Abbas. The mosque is today named after the Shah. This is a real pride of Ganja. The Mosque, which is over four hundred years old, was built according to the project of the architect, astronomer and vazir to Shah Abbas - Sheikh Bahauddin, a direct descendant of greatest poet Nizami Ganjavi. The mosque, which was built from red bricks, represents a squat, but wide building. It consists of a prayer hall divided into two halves (for men and women) with a large screen, and small adjoining rooms. The windows of the mosque are decorated with patterned lattices -shebeke. In front of the massive gates of the mosque, is the spread of the market square. The roof of the mosque is a huge metal dome, 17 meters in diameter. There is a madrasah in the courtyard of the mosque, which was built at the same time with the mosque. (It was destroyed during the Soviet regime). Vocabulary Some keywords to remember: Architect, Astronmer, descedant, adjoin, decorate, pattern, massive, courtyard, restore, modify, shadow, disappear, absolute, accuracy From the middle of the mosque, it seems as if the building is "crowned" with two tall minarets, towers used for observation of the neighborhood. The minarets were restored and slightly modified in the XIX century; however, their original design was preserved to keep the originality. It is known that Sheikh Bahauddin was an excellent astronomer. He applied his knowledge of astronomy in the construction of the mosque. It is said that at noon, the shadows that fell on the western wall of the building disappeared. This indicated to the faithful that it was the time of midday prayer (namaz). Until now, the people of Ganja still check for the disappearing shadow to tell time, and the accuracy has remained absolute. Both the mosque and madrasah are restored and functioning to these day. Post reading tasks 1. When was the mosque built? 2. Who was Sheikh Bahauddin? 3. With are the windows of the mosque decorated with? 4. What happened when at noon the shadows on the western walls disappeared? Chokak –Hamam 12 century Pre-reading task. Look at the text`s picture, brainstorm and try to say what the text is about. 1. What do you think the structure represent? 2. In your opinion, what could be going on in a building like this? 3. Have you ever seen a bathhouse? Why do people use these bathhouses? Sheikh Bahauddin built a Chokak - Hamam- next to the Juma mosque. The word “hamam” is translated as “bathhouse”. The Chokak bathhouse consists of two open halls. One of the halls, the big, has a pool and a fountain in the center, intended for resting. The small hall is for having a bath. The bath has two large and five small domes, which are built from red brick. On the top of the large domes are the half-domes, which serves as a fan, from which the ventilation pipes dispersed through the space inside the walls. It's hot in winter and cool in summer. Vocabulary Some keywords to remember: bathhouse, consist, fountain, intend, domes, ventilation, disperse, basement, steam boliers, acquire, monument, protection The bathhouse was heated with firewood. In the basement there were two steam boilers. Steam was fed into the halls along ceramic pipes, which again passed through the walls and the floor of the bath. Steam evenly circulated and heated the whole room. This unique system of the four hundred year old bathhouse worked perfectly until 1963. Despite after many centuries past, the bath remained very popular among the local people. The feeling that you are washing yourself in a bath, where Shah Abbas spent his time, gave the bathing experience a special and emotional sensation. Since 2002, Chokak - hamam has acquired the status of a cultural monument of international importance and it is under the protection of UNESCO. Post –reading tasks. 1. How many halls are there in the bathhouse? 2. How was the bathhouse heated? 3. When has Chokak-hamam acquired the status of a cultural monument? 4. When was Chokak-bathhouse built? Ancient Landmarks of Ganja Pre-reading task Find flashcards of the pictures representing the various important structures in Ganja. Caravanserai Ganja caravanserai is for the third time reconstructed in the ensemble of Sheikh Bahauddin. Today the building of the medieval caravanserai plays the role of the Temple of Knowledge. At the end of the 20th century, the Ganja Humanitarian College is conveniently located here. The building of the caravanserai is a two-storey building, which includes fifteen halls and fifty-four rooms. There is also the museum of the poet Meskheti Ganjavi in this building. Vocabulary Some keywords to remember: medieval, temple, humanitarian, concenient, two-storey, outskirts, majestic, entire Old fortress On the outskirts of the city you can see the remains of the once majestic Ganja fortress. Now there are only shapeless boulders from it. The fortress wall ran along the entire bank of Ganja-chai (Ganja river). Water that serves as a guard when approaching the fortress has over many years smoothed out the brittle walls, and the building quickly fell into decay. Once there were two powerful towers at a distance of about 600 meters from each other. The gates of the fortress used to be the famous gates of Ganja. Post-reading task. Answer the questions: 1. What can we see on the outskirts of the Ganja city? 2. How many powerful towers were there? The Ancient Ganja gates Pre-reading task. What do you think this pictures represents? In your own words, describe a similar structure that you have seen or have knowledge of. In 1063, the blacksmith Ibrahim Ibn Osman, by the order of the ruler of the Sheddad dynasty, made the famous gates of Ganja. It was a masterpiece of craft art of that time. The gates were made of cast iron and it was decorated from the outside with ornaments and patterns. Among the ornament on the "Kufi" were the name of the master and the date of its construction. Vocabulary Some keywords to remember: blacksmith, dynasty, materpeice, ornaments, patterns, construction, capture, tropphy, inhabitant, survive Class Activity: Can you find the synonyms of these words lister above? In 1139, the Georgian king Demetre I took advantage of an earthquake that destroyed the city nearly to the ground, attacked Ganja and captured the gates as a trophy.