Diamond necklace of Baku
By Narmina Mammadova
Seaside Boulevard is one of the attractions of Baku, a favorite resting place of capital residents and city guests. The Boulevard marked its 100th birthday in 2009. Next year, the lhis landmark place will already celebrate its 110-year anniversary.
The length of the Seaside National Park, which previously was 16 km, reached 25 km after the major reconstruction.
The history of Baku Boulevard begins in 1860, when the line of the fortress walls that went to Baku Bay was destroyed.
In 1865, at the request of the Baku military governor and head of the civil part of Lieutenant General MP Kolyubakin, permission was given for the demolition of the fortress wall facing the sea, which "prevented the free movement of air by its uselessness".
The proceeds from the sale of stone and the liberated territory between the old Fortress and the seashore were "used to build a pier and an elegant stone embankment, soon decorated with a number of beautiful private houses."
Soon, architect Kasymbek Hajibababekov took up the construction of a stone embankment, for the construction of which the stones of the dismantled fortress wall were used.
The Maiden Tower was allegedly playing the role of a lighthouse at that time, and it is difficult to say, if not for this circumstance, whether this amazing monument would have survived to this day or not. However, the magnificent, horseshoe-shaped bay with an "amphitheater" from the surrounding hills did not look like today's maritime facade of Baku - the coastline was cluttered with numerous marinas of private shipping companies, docks, warehouses, etc.
The new embankment consisted of two parts. Aleksandrovskaya stretched along the fortress to the west, to the current Philharmonic Garden, then called the "City" (later "Governor"). And Petrovskaya Embankment was stretching to the east. They were divided exactly in the middle by the quays and warehouses of the shipping company Caucasus and Mercury (its property formed the foundation of the Caspian Shipping Company later).
The city authorities took up the arrangement of the park on the Caspian coast only in 1909. This date is considered the official beginning of the biography of Baku Boulevard. A talented engineer, M.G. Hajinsky, undertook this accomplishment and, an architect, Adolf Eichler, took an active part in it.
However, the plans of the organizers of the new park on the Caspian coast collided with the interests of big capital very quickly: there were few people who wanted to donate their own docks, warehouses and marinas. As a result, the new boulevard occupied the territory from the current Puppet Theater to the current Azneft area. No one dared to encroach on the interests of the Caucasus and Mercury society.
The boulevard became the place of mass celebrations of the townspeople only after the Russian Empire, with its class division, went into oblivion.
During the years of the Soviet Union, the development of the Boulevard was not particularly rapid. In any case, only in the fifties and sixties, after the construction of a new sea port in Baku, the Boulevard was extended to the current Azadlig Square, then bearing the name of Lenin. The author of the project was architect M. Useinov. At the same time, the bathhouse, built back in 1914 by architect Baev’s project, was loved by many generations of citizens. At the same time, the boulevard grew in breadth: in connection with a fall in the level of the Caspian, a wide shallow strip formed, over which its lower terrace was erected.
But it soon became clear: the sea did not recede forever. The increase in the level of the Caspian coincided with the political and economic disorder of the nineties. The lower terrace of the boulevard was flooded, trees began to die of salt water, even reeds appeared in some places.
But a new era began on the Boulevard after a few years. Primorsky Boulevard received the status of a National Park by the decree of President of Azerbaijan Heydar Aliyev in 1998. Repair work was carried out here. And in 2008, a reconstruction was launched again. A laser fountain unparalleled in the world appeared on the Boulevard, two musical fountains were built, a stepped descent to the sea appeared. At the same time, exotic trees, including baobabs, Canarian palms and Italian olives, began to appear here.
And on the eve of the "Eurovision" Song Contest, the first guests have already met the "New Boulevard", stretching on the site of the former shipyards, from the Palace of Hand Games to the State Flag Square. Construction constantly covers new sections of the Baku Bay.
Several grand shopping centers are being built in the capital. One of them is a Caspian Waterfront Mall, being built on Baku Boulevard.
This beautiful building will be located in the western part of Baku Boulevard, where the old section becomes a new one (not far from the Palace of Hand Games).
The future shopping and entertainment center covers an area of 3.5 hectares.
The total area of the mall will be 120 thousand square meters.
The building with its extraordinary geometric forms somewhat reminds of one of the most famous and easily recognizable buildings in the world, which is a symbol of Australia’s largest city and one of the main attractions of the continent - the Sydney Opera House.
But if Sydney Opera House symbolizes the sails, our Caspian Waterfront carries a national idea, repeating the forms of the coat of arms of Azerbaijan - an eight-pointed star with flames inside.
Caspian Waterfront will consist of 9 floors - two of them will be underground and set aside for car parking.
The height of this beautiful building will be 70 meters.
Construction is carried out by Pasha Construction.
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