Gala Village a small village in the middle of the Absheron Peninsula, located 40 km far from the capital Baku. It is one of the oldest settlements in Azerbaijan. Scientists have found the proves that the first settlements on the site of Gala village appeared more than 5,000 years ago. Historically speaking, the village was always famous for sheep breeding and wool production. But most importantly, the population of this small settlement was always busy with salt extraction.
Local people gathered salt in “chuvals” (traditional wool bags) and exported to other regions of Caucasus. There is a written evidence of the traveler Kampfer about the salt fields of Absheron: “Due to hot sun rays, the fresh water quickly vaporizes and the remaining juice is full of salt that, condensing in snow-white layers, goes down to the bottom and accumulates in it. From the bottom the salt was scraped away and then put onto barrow trucks and brought to the harbor of Baku in order to be exported by the sea to other countries”. There is a legend living among the local people connected with the salt extraction. Once, the khan of the Absheron wanted to impose tax on the salt lake. Then, a blood spot appeared on the lake surface. Seeing this, the khan changed his mind and never asked any taxes after.
Gala Ethnographic Museum
In the territory of the Gala Village of Absheron, there is a famous open-air historical and ethnographic museum. The museum was founded at an archaeological site. It is dedicated to the Medieval Period history of the Absheron Peninsula. In the museum, the visitors can learn about the lifestyle of Medieval period Azerbaijan people.
In the territory of the museum, houses, portable tents made from animal skins, blacksmith shop, market place, pottery, bakery, threshing mill and other interesting buildings are in exhibition for the visitors. Historians and museum workers collected and brought many monuments and exhibits from different corners of the Absheron Peninsula; During your visit to the museum, you can join to masterclass activities organized upon request, such as bread baking, carpet waving, muddy in pottery. And you can feed camels, donkeys and horses resting peacefully in the territory of the museum.
All together, Gala Open Air Ethnographic Museum is a perfect place to learn about the historical lifestyle of Absheron people. Join to our Absheron Peninsula tour and visit Gala Museum yourself.