A groundbreaking ceremony has been held for Mud Volcanoes Tourism Complex in Gobustan village, Absheron district.
President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva attended the event.
The Mud Volcanoes Tourism Complex will be created 59 kilometers to the south-west of Baku, 17 kilometers to the north-west of Gobustan settlement, in an area 235 meters above the sea level, along the road to the Shamakhi district. The location is known as “Gilinj” mud volcanoes area. The decision to create a tourism complex here was made upon the evaluation of this destination’s tourism potential. Thus, another tourism infrastructure project is underway within the “State Program for the Socioeconomic Development of the Regions for 2019-2023”.
Azerbaijan is known in the world as a rare and yet traditional area of mud volcano development. Of the 1,700 known mud volcanoes on Earth, 700 are in Azerbaijan – primarily in the Absheron Peninsula, Shamakhi-Gobustan and Southeast Shirvan regions and the Baku archipelago. A total of 350 of them are active volcanoes.
Chairman of the State Tourism Agency, Fuad Naghiyev, informed the President and the First Lady of the complex.
President Ilham Aliyev: What will visitors and tourists see here?
Fuad Naghiyev: The concept is that the building of the complex will look like a crater from above. There will also be a workshop here. We will hold classes for children. There will also be an exhibition hall and a café here.
There are a number of advantages to creating a tourist complex at the site of “Gilinj” mud volcanoes. Factors such as proximity to one of the largest volcanoes in the world, “Toraghay”, the presence of three different groups of volcanoes in the area and the nearby Gobustan reserve add to the tourism significance of the area.
The head of state laid the foundation of the Mud Volcanoes Tourism Complex.
The 12-hectare complex will include a quad bike path, footpaths, a zip line and an observation tower, a parking lot, a souvenir shop, as well as therapeutic baths.
To build the road infrastructure for the area, there are plans to extend a 20-kilometer road from the Gobustan Reserve to “Gilinj” and surrounding volcanoes and create the Baku-Gobustan-Mud volcanoes tourism cluster.
President Ilham Aliyev and First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva toured the volcano areas.
