Diligence as a national treasure

The uneasy geography of Azerbaijan forged a unique and unique set of traditions, which in many corners are followed up to now. Nature, largely merciless and harsh, and at the same time infinitely generous to hardworking creators, has wrought a complex and vivid character of Azerbaijanis. This can be seen and still is during the tour of Azerbaijan.

 

Hills and valleys

 

In the foothills and mountains traditionally they grew cattle and fostered gardens, treating the same sites for generations, while the inhabitants of the steppes, where the summer months turned the green sea into yellow fragile deserts, had to wander from place to place, sometimes climbing up to the foothills in search of food for animals. It was in the steppes from the Bronze Age that the inventive nomads discovered the mystery of artificial irrigation. The steppes surrounding the Araks are still delineated by old channels of canals, preserved from ancient and medieval times, and the lush grass covers the ancient ruins of the once flourishing cities of Bailakan, Paytakaran, etc., with an indifferent carpet.

 

From the testimony of historians

 

According to the famous traveler Strabo, who visited here in the 1 st century. AD, in the art of cultivation and irrigation of the land, local tribes could well argue with the Egyptians and Babylonians. In their hard-working hands, the arid steppes filled with luscious greenery, grapes bloomed with sweet fruits for the second year after the planting, and the harvests of cereals could be harvested twice a year. Moses Kagankavatsi, a native of the Caucasus Albania, the territory that lies within the borders of modern Azerbaijan, described the treasures of his homeland as silk, cotton, bread, wine, salt, yellow incense and copper.

Clavijo, who came to Azerbaijan from his native Spain in the distant 15th century, was shocked by the amount of rice that grew on local fields, as he went not only to the table of peasants, but also settled in the feeding troughs for horses. The local gardens were full of fruit, so that the Turkish writer Evliya Chelyabi (17th century) managed to taste 26 different varieties of pears in one of the villages. Tour operators of Azerbaijan and now advise vacationers to try agrotourism.