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Sabayil Castle

Sabayil Castle

Abdul-Majid Masud oglu

Photo: Interfase · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Location
Baku, Azerbaijan
Client / Owner
—
Year
Completed 1232
Access
Private
Style
—

Sabayil Castle is a submerged medieval fortress on the Caspian Sea coast near Baku, Azerbaijan, named after the Bayil area and nicknamed the Atlantis of the Caspian Sea. It was built in 1232–33 on a hill at Bayil, during the lifetime of Fariburz, son of the Shirvanshah Garsasb. The architect was Abdul-Majid Masud oglu, who also built the Round Castle in Mardakan in 1232.

The castle was about 40 meters long and 180 meters wide, with 15 semicircular castles spaced 16–28 meters apart and linked by a wall 1.2–1.5 meters thick. A major earthquake in Baku in 1306 caused it to collapse and the island to submerge. It re-emerged in the early 18th century when the Caspian Sea receded.

Expeditions between 1939 and 1969 recovered more than 700 inscribed stone panels, which name 15 Shirvanshahs and help date the site. They are displayed in the courtyard of the Shirvanshahs Palace in Baku's Walled City.

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