We spent a morning walking around Baku's Old City, or Inner City. It's a UNESCO World Heritage Site and reasonably large at 55 acres of land. It contains ancient caravanserais, mosques, bath houses, shops, restaurants, houses, public spaces, and is a real part of the city of Baku with people living inside it. The Old City has a long history, but it seemed to me to be fairly modern in terms of its operations and functions.

We entered the Old City through the Twin Gates, below. The city wall dates from the 12th century.

I found the Old City to be on the modern side in most respects as you can see below.

We knew that we would be tempted by carpet sellers, like the one above, but we weren't ready for what we came across in the Old City. Carpets could not easily be avoided here.

The Palace of the Shirvanshahs, a 15th century palace, was one of the highlights of the Old City. It is considered one of the pearls of Azerbaijani architecture. This ornate complex contains bath ruins, a mausoleum, burial vaults, and much more.

Below, you can see the palace's Throne Room which was the center of state representation.

As much as I liked the palace and other elaborate buildings, I preferred some of the small and intimate side streets that we found in the Old City. They had a great feel and ambience to them.

Another highlight of the Old City was the Maiden Tower. Stories about the tower seem to be uncertain. It dates from sometime between the 7th and 12th centuries. It also has multiple stories about its purpose, but it was clearly a highlight of our visit. It has a museum inside about the historic evolution of the city of Baku. What I can tell you is that it's 143 steps to get to the top. Vicky and I made it to the top and were rewarded with some great views of the city.