Construction of the Palace of the Shirvanshahs began in 1411 under Shirvanshah Sheykh Ibrahim I, who moved the capital from Shemakha to Baku after a devastating earthquake. The builders drew on the Shirvan-Absheron architectural school. Khalilullah I had the burial vault built, dated 1435 and 1436, for his mother and son.
The complex has a two-story palace with three narrow spiral staircases and, originally, 52 rooms, of which 16 remain on the second floor. Other parts include the octagonal Divankhana, a mosque with a minaret, the mausoleum of Seyid Yahya Bakuvi, and Murad's Gate, built in 1585 and 1586 under Ottoman rule.
Safavid forces took Baku in 1501, and Peter I's troops bombarded it in 1723. The Russian military used the palace as warehouses in the 19th century. Restoration resumed in 1992 and ended in 2006. UNESCO listed it in 2000, with the Maiden Tower and city walls.
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