Quba 1918 Genocide Memorial Complex

Azerbaijan


A startling pair of concrete spike-pyramids rise dramatically above a subterranean museum that very powerfully commemorates the massacres of April and May 1918. In the then-larger Quba district, 122 villages were ravaged by predominantly Armenian Bolshevik forces. Some 16,782 mostly unarmed civilians died – Azerbaijanis, Jews, Avars and Lezghins. Many were dumped in a mass grave that was uncovered on this site in 2007.

The museum's information is in English, Azerbaijani and Russian, complemented by commentary from a free audio-guide. To get a great, early morning view of the museum's architectural shards counterpointed against a backdrop of distant snowy mountains, approach from the Krasnaya Sloboda bridge along N Nərimanov küç taking a photo through the gateway where the asphalt runs out. If walking you can access the site from there but cars cannot reach the museum's main car park this way.