Getting There
You can reach the island using buses №Q1 and №150. Bus №Q1 runs from “Koroglu” metro station. You change the bus at the stop named “Qala kendi” (Qala Village) to the bus №150. It will bring you directly to the Pirallahi Island. Private car or taxi also can be used to reach the island.
What to Expect
Pirallahi Island is an island in the Caspian Sea, located right off the northeastern shore of the Absheron Peninsula. The total square of the island is 14.6 km2 and has its own 50 ha industrial park, High-Tech Park which is dedicated to the ICT industry and boulevard area where you can observe beautiful sunsets.
The biggest lighthouse in Azerbaijan is the Absheron lighthouse, located on Pirallahi in the territory of Gurgen settlement. The lighthouse, built in 1859 on hard rocky cliffs at Pirallahi, then was commissioned on October 23, 1860.
History
The meaning of Pirallahi is “the shrine of Allah”, from the word pir – a shrine / holy place. In ancient times, there was a place of worship and pilgrimage on the island, but there is no exact data on which religion it belongs to. According to one version, it was a shrine of the Zoroastrians, and according to others it was Muslims.
During Russian Imperial times the island’s name was Svyatoy (from Russian: Святой – “The holy one”). It is said that undersea booty (valuable stolen goods, especially those seized in war) from a 1660 sea battle between Persians and Cossack leader Stepan Razin lies off the northern tip of the island.
Pirallahi Island is said to be among the first places where oil was extracted in Azerbaijan, and in the 1820s it was divided into two separate areas, one residential, and another where oil was refined into paraffin. In 1934, oil explorers dropped metal drills off piers from the island, which at the time was considered an advancement in offshore oil exploration.
Facilities Available
- The “Nerekend” is fish market and sea food restaurant at the entrance of the Island.
- There is also “F-Marine Hotel Resort” in island.
